musketeer

/ˌmʌs.kəˈtɪə(ɹ)/

//ˌmʌs.kəˈtɪə(ɹ)// noun

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

"musketeer" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“musketeer” is uncommon English (frequency #65,329 among 4,057 “M” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#65,329
frequency rank, English
4,057
“M” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A foot soldier armed with a musket.

Corpus desk

Index EN-musketeer · musketeer · English

musketeer · rank #65,329 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #65,329
  • LEN-LONG 9 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,057
  • PHOTO-FINISH Murrieta

Nearest frequency peer: Murrieta (-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.

Long-tail ranks near “musketeer”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

What this shows Long-tail view: where “musketeer” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for musketeer
PropertyValue
Headwordmusketeer
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˌmʌs.kəˈtɪə(ɹ)/
Letters9
Frequency rank#65,329
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “musketeer” in English

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right).musketeerfalls in this rarity band:

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

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Rare peers in the same band: “Murrieta” (#65,328), “naturist” (#65,334), “mousetrap” (#65,323). Among 4,057 “M” headwords, “musketeer” is #65,329. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

musketeer is uncommon English at frequency #65,329 among 4,057 “M” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˌmʌs.kəˈtɪə(ɹ)/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.

musketeer doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle French mousquetaire in the late 16th century. By surface analysis, musket + -eer. Doublet of mousquetaire. The correct English form is musketeer, spelled M-U-S-K-E-T-E-E-R.

Definition

  1. 1
    A foot soldier armed with a musket.
  2. 2
    In 17th- and 18th-century France, a member of the royal household bodyguard.
  3. 3
    A comrade or fellow.

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

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

  1. Reuniting the cast of Trainspotting for a new adventure 21 years on could have gone badly. The BBC’s misjudged This Life + 10, bringing the cast of the iconic 90s TV drama back together, is a case in point. But Boyle and his four musketeers give it just the right frantic, jaded energy and manic anxiety.

Etymology

From Middle French mousquetaire in the late 16th century. By surface analysis, musket + -eer. Doublet of mousquetaire.

This word in other languages

mosquetero(Español)mousquetaire(Français)Musketier(Deutsch)mosqueteiro(Português)

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 "musketeer"?
"musketeer" is spelled M-U-S-K-E-T-E-E-R. The IPA pronunciation is /ˌmʌs.kəˈtɪə(ɹ)/.
What does "musketeer" mean?
As a noun, "musketeer" means: A foot soldier armed with a musket.
How do you pronounce "musketeer"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "musketeer" is /ˌmʌs.kəˈtɪə(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 "musketeer"?
From Middle French mousquetaire in the late 16th century. By surface analysis, musket + -eer. Doublet of mousquetaire. 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 "musketeer", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 9 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

mousetrap#65,323Nyasaland#65,356Pankhurst#65,380pansexual#65,382

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list