MRSA

/ˈɛm.ɑːɹ.ɛs.eɪ/

//ˈɛm.ɑːɹ.ɛs.eɪ// noun

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

"mrsa" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“MRSA” has 5 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #41,266. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#41,266
frequency rank, English
4,057
“M” headwords
5
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Initialism of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus; a bacterium responsible for serious infections.

Corpus desk

Index EN-mrsa · MRSA · English

MRSA · rank #41,266 · 5 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #41,266
  • LEN-MID 4 letters
  • VOW-1 1 vowel
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 5 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,057
  • PHOTO-FINISH MRC

Nearest frequency peer: MRC (-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.

Rank peers near misspelling magnet “MRSA”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “MRSA” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

MRSA vs MS
50% similar
MRSA vs MSM
50% similar
MRSA vs MSG
50% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for MRSA
PropertyValue
HeadwordMRSA
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈɛm.ɑːɹ.ɛs.eɪ/
Letters4
Frequency rank#41,266
Misspellings tracked5
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “MRSA”

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).MRSAlands here:

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

Ticks step logarithmically, so each one marks a roughly tenfold drop in how often the word turns up. Same rarity band neighbours include “MRC” (#41,265), “Mss” (#41,267), “Mowbray” (#41,264). Among 4,057 “M” headwords, “MRSA” is #41,266. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 5 spelling variants around MRSA (IPA /ˈɛm.ɑːɹ.ɛs.eɪ/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #41,266 among 4,057 “M” headwords. Dominant gloss: "Initialism of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus; a bacterium responsible for serious infections.".

Our generated misspelling index lists 5 likely wrong-spelling variants for MRSA, with forms such as "mmrsa", "mrrsa", and "mrssa". 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, "MS", "MSM", "MSG", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Wiktionary doesn't record an etymology for this headword, so spelling patterns must be inferred from the word's phoneme-to-grapheme mapping rather than from a documented borrowing chain. The correct English form is MRSA, spelled M-R-S-A.

Definition

  1. 1
    Initialism of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus; a bacterium responsible for serious infections.

This word in other languages

SARM(Français)MRSA(Deutsch)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • mmrsa
  • mrrsa
  • mrssa
  • msra
  • rmsa

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of MRSA - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.

mmrsa1mrrsa1mrssa1msra2rmsa2
Edit distance from "MRSA"

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 "MRSA"?
"MRSA" is spelled M-R-S-A. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈɛm.ɑːɹ.ɛs.eɪ/.
What does "MRSA" mean?
As a noun, "MRSA" means: Initialism of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus; a bacterium responsible for serious infections.
What words are commonly confused with "MRSA"?
"MRSA" is commonly confused with "MS", "MSM", "MSG". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "MRSA"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "MRSA" is /ˈɛm.ɑːɹ.ɛs.eɪ/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "MRSA" come from?
"MRSA" is a English word. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for this and other words across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German on PlainSpell.
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 "MRSA", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 4 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Neff#41,274Meir#41,249Oren#41,289lode#41,231

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (5 here; floor ≥5).

jeon5 variantsHoli5 variantsHein5 variantsHama5 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list