musk
/mʌsk/noun, verb
musk is spelled M-U-S-K: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears 3.1 times per million words in written English, the 15,146th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, musk means “A greasy secretion with a powerful odour, produced in a glandular sac of the male musk deer and used in the manufacture of perfumes” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of musk is musks.
How many letters and syllables are in musk?
| Letters | 4: M-U-S-K |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 3.1 times per million words; the 15,146th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with |
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 musk?
Musk appears 3.1 times per million words in written English, the 15,146th 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 musk?
- US /mʌsk/
- Australia /mɐsk/
- /mʊsk/
Musk 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-au-musk.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with musk?
7 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as musk from its last stressed vowel (/ʌsk/):
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 musk
- musks plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- musking participle, present
- musked participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does musk mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A greasy secretion with a powerful odour, produced in a glandular sac of the male musk deer and used in the manufacture of perfumes.
- 2
A similar secretion produced by the otter and the civet.
- 3
A synthetic organic compound used as a substitute for the above.
- 4
The odour of musk.
- 5
slangvulgarBody odor, especially when aroused or unwashed.
I was so excited I could smell my own musk.
- 6
A musk deer (genus Moschus).
- 7
A muskflower (Erythranthe moschata).
- 8
A plant of the genus Erodium (Erodium moschatum); the musky heronsbill.
verb
- 1
To perfume with musk.
noun
- 1
Abbreviation of muscle-specific kinase.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Musk in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense greasy secretion with powerful odour:
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 musk come from?
From Middle English muske, borrowed from Old French musc, from Late Latin muscus, from Ancient Greek μόσχος (móskhos), from Middle Persian [script needed] (mwšk' /muʃk/) whence Persian مشک (mošk). Ultimately from Sanskrit मुष्क (muṣka, “testicle”), the shape of the gland of animals secreting the substance being compared to human testicles, a diminutive of मूष् (mūṣ, “mouse”), the shape of human testicles being compared to mice, from Proto-Indo-European *muh₂s (“mouse”). Cognate with mouse.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).