mummy
/ˈmʌm.i/
"mummy" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“mummy” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #13,567 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #13,567
- frequency rank, English
- 5
- letters
- 6
- tracked misspellings
- 15
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - An embalmed human or non-human animal corpse wrapped in linen bandages for burial, especially as practised by the ancient Egyptians and some Native American tribes.
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 | mummy |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈmʌm.i/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #13,567 |
| Misspellings tracked | 6 |
| Confusable pairs | 15 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “mummy” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for mummy is 5 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈmʌm.i/. Corpus data places it at rank #13,567 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 7 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 6 likely wrong-spelling variants for mummy, with forms such as "mmummy", "mmumy", and "mummyy". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 15 confusable-pair relationships, "mums", "murky", "mushy", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English mummie, from Anglo-Norman mumie, from Middle French momie, from Medieval Latin mumia, from Arabic مُومِيَاء (mūmiyāʔ), from Persian مومیا (mumyâ), from موم (mum, “wax”). Doublet of mumijo. The correct English form is mummy, spelled M-U-M-M-Y.
Definition
- 1An embalmed human or non-human animal corpse wrapped in linen bandages for burial, especially as practised by the ancient Egyptians and some Native American tribes.
- 2A reanimated embalmed human corpse, as a stock character in horror films.
- 3Any naturally preserved human or non-human animal body.
- 4Any naturally preserved human or non-human animal body. (countable, uncountable, now rare) A brown pigment originally prepared from the ground-up remains of Egyptian animal or human mummies mixed with bitumen, etc.
- 5A pulp.
- 6A substance used in medicine, prepared from mummified flesh.
- 7A sort of wax used in grafting.
Etymology
From Middle English mummie, from Anglo-Norman mumie, from Middle French momie, from Medieval Latin mumia, from Arabic مُومِيَاء (mūmiyāʔ), from Persian مومیا (mumyâ), from موم (mum, “wax”). Doublet of mumijo.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: mmummy,mmumy,mummyy,mumy,mumym,ummmy
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of mummy - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.
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 “mummy”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is M-U-M-M-Y - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈmʌm.i/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “mums” - see the side-by-side comparison. mummy vs mums
- 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.