music
/ˈmjuːzɪk/
"music" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“music” is in the everyday core of English, ranked #279 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #279
- frequency rank, English
- 5
- letters
- 7
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A series of sounds organized in time, usually employing some combination of harmony, melody, rhythm, tempo, etc., often to convey a mood.
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 | music |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈmjuːzɪk/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #279 |
| Misspellings tracked | 7 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “music” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for music is 5 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈmjuːzɪk/. Corpus data places it at rank #279 in overall English word frequency, putting it firmly in the everyday core of the language. Wiktionary records 7 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 7 likely wrong-spelling variants for music, with forms such as "mmusic", "msuic", and "muisc". 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 20 confusable-pair relationships, "must", "musk", "musty", 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 musik, musike, borrowed from Anglo-Norman musik, musike, Old French musique, and their source Latin mūsica, from Ancient Greek μουσική (mousikḗ), from Ancient Greek Μοῦσα (Moûsa, “Muse”), an Ancient Greek deity of the arts. By surface an… The correct English form is music, spelled M-U-S-I-C.
Definition
- 1A series of sounds organized in time, usually employing some combination of harmony, melody, rhythm, tempo, etc., often to convey a mood.
- 2Any interesting or pleasing sounds.
- 3An art form, created by organizing pitch, rhythm, and sounds made using musical instruments and/or singing.
- 4A guide to playing or singing a particular tune; sheet music.
- 5Electronic signal jamming.
- 6Heated argument.
- 7Fun; amusement.
Etymology
From Middle English musik, musike, borrowed from Anglo-Norman musik, musike, Old French musique, and their source Latin mūsica, from Ancient Greek μουσική (mousikḗ), from Ancient Greek Μοῦσα (Moûsa, “Muse”), an Ancient Greek deity of the arts. By surface analysis, muse + -ic (“pertaining to”). In this sense, displaced native Old English drēam (“music”), whence Modern English dream.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: mmusic,msuic,muisc,musci,musicc,mussic,umsic
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of music - 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 “music”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is M-U-S-I-C - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈmjuːzɪk/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “must” - see the side-by-side comparison. music vs must
- 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.