mould
/moʊld/
"mould" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“mould” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #16,078 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #16,078
- frequency rank, English
- 5
- letters
- 7
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Commonwealth standard spelling of mold.
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 | mould |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /moʊld/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #16,078 |
| Misspellings tracked | 7 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “mould” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for mould is 5 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /moʊld/. Corpus data places it at rank #16,078 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "Commonwealth standard spelling of mold.".
Our generated misspelling index lists 7 likely wrong-spelling variants for mould, with forms such as "mmould", "molud", and "moudl". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "MUD", "mule", "mull", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: Via Middle English molde, moulde (“mould, cast”) and Old French modle, from Latin modulus. The correct English form is mould, spelled M-O-U-L-D.
Definition
- 1Commonwealth standard spelling of mold.
Etymology
Via Middle English molde, moulde (“mould, cast”) and Old French modle, from Latin modulus.
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: mmould,molud,moudl,mouldd,moulld,muold,omuld
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of mould - 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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Using “mould”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is M-O-U-L-D - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /moʊld/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “MUD” - see the side-by-side comparison. mould vs MUD
- 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.