motto
/ˈmɑ.toʊ/
"motto" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“motto” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #10,890 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #10,890
- frequency rank, English
- 5
- letters
- 4
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A personal slogan.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | motto |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈmɑ.toʊ/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #10,890 |
| Misspellings tracked | 4 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “motto” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for motto is 5 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈmɑ.toʊ/. Corpus data places it at rank #10,890 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 4 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 4 likely wrong-spelling variants for motto, with forms such as "mmotto", "motot", and "mtoto". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "mutt", "mouth", "mutton", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: Borrowed from Italian motto (“a word, a saying”), from Latin muttum (“a mutter, a grunt”), late 16th c. Doublet of mot. The correct English form is motto, spelled M-O-T-T-O.
Definition
- 1A personal slogan.
- 2A sentence, phrase, or word, forming part of an heraldic achievement.
- 3A sentence, phrase, or word, prefixed to an essay, discourse, chapter, canto, or the like, suggestive of its subject matter; a short, suggestive expression of a guiding principle; a maxim.
- 4A paper packet containing a sweetmeat, cracker, etc., together with a scrap of paper bearing a motto.
Etymology
Borrowed from Italian motto (“a word, a saying”), from Latin muttum (“a mutter, a grunt”), late 16th c. Doublet of mot.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: mmotto,motot,mtoto,omtto
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of motto - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Is PlainSpell free to use?
Using “motto”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is M-O-T-T-O - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈmɑ.toʊ/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “mutt” - see the side-by-side comparison. motto vs mutt
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.