moult

/moʊlt/

//moʊlt// noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"moult" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“moult” is uncommon English (frequency #70,927 among 4,057 “M” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#70,927
frequency rank, English
4,057
“M” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - The process of shedding or losing a covering of fur, feathers or skin etc.

Corpus desk

Index EN-moult · moult · English

moult · rank #70,927 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #70,927
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,057
  • PHOTO-FINISH mourner

Nearest frequency peer: mourner (+1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Long-tail ranks near “moult”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

What this shows Long-tail view: where “moult” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for moult
PropertyValue
Headwordmoult
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/moʊlt/
Letters5
Frequency rank#70,927
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “moult” in English

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right).moultfalls in this rarity band:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Rare peers in the same band: “mourner” (#70,928), “Movember” (#70,929), “Moylan” (#70,930). Among 4,057 “M” headwords, “moult” is #70,927. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

moult is uncommon English at frequency #70,927 among 4,057 “M” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /moʊlt/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

No generated misspelling entries exist for moult in our index, suggesting the orthography follows predictable English patterns. Our dataset records no confusable match here, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English mouten, from Old English *mutian (cf. bemutian), from Latin mūtō, mūtāre. Doublet of mute and mutate. Un-etymological ⟨l⟩ was introduced into the spelling by mistakenly assuming a French origin with -l- (compare fault, vault and solder w… The correct English form is moult, spelled M-O-U-L-T.

Definition

  1. 1
    The process of shedding or losing a covering of fur, feathers or skin etc.
  2. 2
    The skin or feathers cast off during the process of moulting.

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

These source excerpts show how moult appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Some birds change colour during their winter moult.

Etymology

From Middle English mouten, from Old English *mutian (cf. bemutian), from Latin mūtō, mūtāre. Doublet of mute and mutate. Un-etymological ⟨l⟩ was introduced into the spelling by mistakenly assuming a French origin with -l- (compare fault, vault and solder with correctly restored etymological ⟨l⟩).

This word in other languages

muda(Español)mue(Français)Mauser(Deutsch)muda(Português)

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

How do you spell "moult"?
"moult" is spelled M-O-U-L-T. The IPA pronunciation is /moʊlt/.
What does "moult" mean?
As a noun, "moult" means: The process of shedding or losing a covering of fur, feathers or skin etc.
How do you pronounce "moult"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "moult" is /moʊlt/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "moult"?
From Middle English mouten, from Old English *mutian (cf. bemutian), from Latin mūtō, mūtāre. Doublet of mute and mutate. Un-etymological ⟨l⟩ was introduced into the spelling by mistakenly assuming a French origin with -l- (compare fault, vault an... See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "moult", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Moniz#70,918murry#70,937Moats#70,910nervy#70,953

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list