mountain
/ˈmaʊn.tɪn/
"mountain" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“mountain” is a regularly-used English word, ranked #1,910 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #1,910
- frequency rank, English
- 8
- letters
- 11
- tracked misspellings
- 3
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - An elevation of land of considerable dimensions rising more or less abruptly, forming a conspicuous figure in the landscape, usually having a small extent of surface at its summit.
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 | mountain |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈmaʊn.tɪn/ |
| Letters | 8 |
| Frequency rank | #1,910 |
| Misspellings tracked | 11 |
| Confusable pairs | 3 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “mountain” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for mountain is 8 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈmaʊn.tɪn/. Corpus data places it at rank #1,910 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 6 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 11 likely wrong-spelling variants for mountain, with forms such as "mmountain", "monutain", and "mounatin". 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 3 confusable-pair relationships, "mounting", "mountains", "maintain", since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English mountayne, mountain, montaigne, from Anglo-Norman muntaine, muntaigne, from Early Medieval Latin montānia, a collective based on Latin montem (“mountain”), from Proto-Indo-European *monti (compare Welsh mynydd (“mountain”), Albanian mat … The correct English form is mountain, spelled M-O-U-N-T-A-I-N.
Definition
- 1An elevation of land of considerable dimensions rising more or less abruptly, forming a conspicuous figure in the landscape, usually having a small extent of surface at its summit.
- 2Something very large in size or quantity; a huge amount; a great heap.
- 3A difficult task or challenge.
- 4Wine from Malaga made from grapes that grow on a mountain.
- 5A woman's large breast.
- 6The twenty-first Lenormand card.
Etymology
From Middle English mountayne, mountain, montaigne, from Anglo-Norman muntaine, muntaigne, from Early Medieval Latin montānia, a collective based on Latin montem (“mountain”), from Proto-Indo-European *monti (compare Welsh mynydd (“mountain”), Albanian mat (“bank, shore”), Avestan 𐬨𐬀𐬙𐬌 (mati, “promontory”)), from *men- (“to project, stick out”). Displaced native Old English beorg and dūn, and partially displaced non-native Old English munt, from Latin mōns (whence English mount).
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: mmountain,monutain,mounatin,mounntain,mountainn,mountani,mountian,mounttain,moutnain,muontain,omuntain
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of mountain - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
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 "mountain"?
What does "mountain" mean?
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Using “mountain”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is M-O-U-N-T-A-I-N - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈmaʊn.tɪn/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “mounting” - see the side-by-side comparison. mountain vs mounting
- 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.