mud
/mʌd/noun, verb
mud is spelled M-U-D: 3 letters and one syllable. It appears 13 times per million words in written English, the 5,778th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, mud means “A mixture of water and soil or fine grained sediment” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of mud is muds or mudden.
How many letters and syllables are in mud?
| Letters | 3: M-U-D |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 13 times per million words; the 5,778th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Same letters |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is mud?
Mud appears 13 times per million words in written English, the 5,778th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce mud?
- /mʌd/
- /mʊd/
Mud has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-mud.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with mud?
No other word on PlainSpell ends in the same sounds as mud.
Spelled with the same letters in another order: dum.
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of mud
- muds plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- mudding participle, present
- mudded participle, past
- mudden plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does mud mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A mixture of water and soil or fine grained sediment.
- 2
A plaster-like mixture used to texture or smooth drywall.
- 3
slangWet concrete as it is being mixed, delivered and poured.
- 4
Willfully abusive, even slanderous remarks or claims, notably between political opponents.
The campaign issues got lost in all the mud from both parties.
- 5
slangMoney, dough, especially when proceeding from dirty business.
- 6
Stool that is exposed as a result of anal sex.
- 7
A particle less than 62.5 microns in diameter, following the Wentworth scale
- 8
derogatoryslangA black person.
- 9
A traditional Dutch unit of dry measure of variable size, frequently about 3 bushels.
- 10
A traditional Dutch unit of land area, vaguely reckoned as the amount of land required to sow a mud of seed.
- 11
A kind of box traditionally used in the Netherlands for measuring muds.
verb
- 1
To make muddy or dirty; to apply mud to (something).
- 2
To make turbid.
- 3
To go under the mud, as an eel does.
- 4
To participate in a MUD or multi-user dungeon.
noun
- 1
Acronym of multi-user dungeon, an interactive online environment in which players may jointly engage in fantasy role-playing games.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Mud in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | boue, fange , embouer |
| German | Schlamm, Kot |
| Portuguese | lama, barro, lodo , enlamear |
| Spanish | lodo, barro, fango, limo , enlodar, embarrar |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does mud come from?
From Middle English mud, mudde, mode, probably a borrowing from Middle Dutch mod, modde or Middle Low German mudde, ultimately from Proto-Germanic *mud-, *mudra- (“mud”), perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *mū-, *mew- (“moist”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian Mudde (“mud”), Middle High German mot (“mud”), Swedish modd (“slush”). Compare also suffixed variants English mother (“vinegar-forming sediment in alcohol”), West Frisian modder (“mud”), Dutch modder (“mud”), German Low German Mudder (“mud”), German Moder (“moldiness, mildew, decay”), Danish mudder (“mud”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).