mumps
/mʌmps/
"mumps" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“mumps” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #36,683 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #36,683
- frequency rank, English
- 5
- letters
- 8
- tracked misspellings
- 12
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A contagious disease caused by the Mumps virus of the genus Rubulavirus, mostly occurring in childhood, which causes swelling of glands in the face and neck.
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 | mumps |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /mʌmps/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #36,683 |
| Misspellings tracked | 8 |
| Confusable pairs | 12 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “mumps” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for mumps is 5 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /mʌmps/. Corpus data places it at rank #36,683 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 2 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 8 likely wrong-spelling variants for mumps, with forms such as "mmumps", "mmups", and "mummps". 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 12 confusable-pair relationships, "mums", "muses", "mum", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.
Etymologically, the entry records: Circa 1600, from mump (“grimace”, noun), compare mump (verb), most likely referring to the painful difficulty in swallowing. The correct English form is mumps, spelled M-U-M-P-S.
Definition
- 1A contagious disease caused by the Mumps virus of the genus Rubulavirus, mostly occurring in childhood, which causes swelling of glands in the face and neck.
- 2A gloomy or sullen silence.
Etymology
Circa 1600, from mump (“grimace”, noun), compare mump (verb), most likely referring to the painful difficulty in swallowing.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: mmumps,mmups,mummps,mumpps,mumpss,mumsp,mupms,ummps
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of mumps - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.
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 “mumps”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is M-U-M-P-S - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /mʌmps/ (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. mumps 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.