muslin
/ˈmʌz.lɪn/noun
muslin is spelled M-U-S-L-I-N: 6 letters and 2 syllables. It appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 44,767th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, muslin means “Any of several varieties of thin cotton cloth” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of muslin is muslins.
How many letters and syllables are in muslin?
| Letters | 6: M-U-S-L-I-N |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 2 million words; the 44,767th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
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).
How common is muslin?
Muslin appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 44,767th 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 muslin?
- /ˈmʌz.lɪn/
Muslin has 2 syllables (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: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-muslin.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of muslin
- muslins plural
- muselin
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does muslin mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
Any of several varieties of thin cotton cloth.
- 2
USFabric made of cotton, flax (linen), hemp, or silk, finely or coarsely woven.
- 3
Any of a wide variety of tightly-woven thin fabrics, especially those used for bedlinen.
- 4
USWoven cotton or linen fabrics, especially when used for items other than garments.
- 5
A mock-up of a garment pattern made of inexpensive fabric for the purpose of optimizing its fit on the wearer, before the garment is produced in more expensive fabric.
Fitting this pattern is tricky, so we recommend you make a muslin first.
- 6
Any of several different moths, especially the muslin moth, Diaphora mendica.
- 7
Woman as sex object; prostitute, as in a bit of muslin.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Muslin in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense thin cotton cloth:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | mousseline |
| German | Musselin |
| Portuguese | musselina |
| Spanish | muselina |
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 muslin come from?
From French mousseline, from Italian mussolina, from Mussolo (“Mosul”), that is Mosul in northern Iraq (compare 1875 Knight, Edward H., Knight's American Mechanical Dictionary, V2 p1502: "Muslins are so called from Moussol in India."). Doublet of mousseline.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).