murder

/ˈmɜːdə(ɹ)/

//ˈmɜːdə(ɹ)// noun

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

"murder" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“murder” has 9 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #1,462. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#1,462
frequency rank, English
4,057
“M” headwords
9
tracked misspellings
14
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - The crime of killing a person unlawfully, especially with predetermination.

Corpus desk

Index EN-murder · murder · English

murder · rank #1,462 · 9 variants · 14 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #1,462
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-MID 14 pairs
  • VAR-MID 9 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,057
  • PHOTO-FINISH location

Nearest frequency peer: location (-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 “murder”

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

corpus weight

What this shows “murder” 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).

murder vs muster
67% similar
murder vs Muriel
50% similar
murder vs murmur
67% similar

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

Key facts for murder
PropertyValue
Headwordmurder
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈmɜːdə(ɹ)/
Letters6
Frequency rank#1,462
Misspellings tracked9
Confusable pairs14
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “murder”

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).murderlands here:

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

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Same rarity band neighbours include “location” (#1,461), “Obama” (#1,463), “located” (#1,460). Among 4,057 “M” headwords, “murder” is #1,462. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 9 spelling variants around murder (IPA /ˈmɜːdə(ɹ)/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #1,462 among 4,057 “M” headwords. Wiktionary lists 7 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 9 likely wrong-spelling variants for murder, with forms such as "mmurder", "mruder", and "mudrer". 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 14 confusable-pair relationships, "muster", "Muriel", "murmur", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English murder, murdre, mourdre, alteration of earlier murthre (“murder”) (see murther), from Old English morþor (“secret slaying, unlawful killing”) and Old English myrþra (“murder, homicide”), both from Proto-West Germanic *morþr, from Proto-G… The correct English form is murder, spelled M-U-R-D-E-R.

Definition

  1. 1
    The crime of killing a person unlawfully, especially with predetermination.
  2. 2
    The crime of killing a person unlawfully, especially with predetermination.
  3. 3
    The act of killing a person (or sometimes another being) unlawfully, especially with predetermination
  4. 4
    Something terrible to endure.
  5. 5
    A group of crows; the collective noun for crows.
  6. 6
    Something remarkable or impressive.
  7. 7
    a murderer

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how murder appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. The defendant was charged with murder.
  2. One of the most urgent tasks facing me after 1 assumed office was to assure the country that everything possible was being done to uncover the truth surrounding the assassination of President Kennedy. John Kennedy had been murdered, and a troubled, puzzled, and outraged nation wanted to know the facts.

Etymology

From Middle English murder, murdre, mourdre, alteration of earlier murthre (“murder”) (see murther), from Old English morþor (“secret slaying, unlawful killing”) and Old English myrþra (“murder, homicide”), both from Proto-West Germanic *morþr, from Proto-Germanic *murþrą (“death, killing, murder”), from Proto-Indo-European *mr̥tro- (“killing”), from Proto-Indo-European *mer-, *mor-, *mr̥- (“to die”). Akin to Gothic 𐌼𐌰𐌿𐍂𐌸𐍂 (maurþr, “murder”), Old High German mord (“murder”), Old Norse morð (“murder”), Old English myrþrian (“to murder”) and morþ. The -d- in the Middle English form may have been influenced in part by Anglo-Norman murdre, from Old French murdre, from Medieval Latin murdrum (whence the English doublet of murdrum), from Frankish *morþr, *murþr (“murder”), from the same Germanic root, though this may also have been wholly the result of internal development (compare burden, from burthen). (crows): Attested at least since 1475.

Synonyms

homicidemanslaughterassassinationflock

This word in other languages

asesinato(Español)meurtre(Français)Mord(Deutsch)assassínio(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • mmurder
  • mruder
  • mudrer
  • murdder
  • murderr
  • murdre
  • muredr
  • murrder
  • umrder

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of murder - 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.

mmurder1mruder2mudrer2murdder1murderr1murdre2muredr2murrder1
Edit distance from "murder"

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 "murder"?
"murder" is spelled M-U-R-D-E-R. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈmɜːdə(ɹ)/.
What does "murder" mean?
As a noun, "murder" means: The crime of killing a person unlawfully, especially with predetermination.
What words are commonly confused with "murder"?
"murder" is commonly confused with "muster", "Muriel", "murmur". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "murder"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "murder" is /ˈmɜːdə(ɹ)/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "murder"?
From Middle English murder, murdre, mourdre, alteration of earlier murthre (“murder”) (see murther), from Old English morþor (“secret slaying, unlawful killing”) and Old English myrþra (“murder, homicide”), both from Proto-West Germanic *morþr, fr... See the full etymology section above for more details.
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 "murder", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

showed#1,468google#1,455flight#1,453accept#1,473

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (9 here; floor ≥5).

putting9 variantsattempt9 variantsclaims9 variantsstatus9 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list