Mycenae
/maɪˈsiːniː/
"mycenae" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“Mycenae” is uncommon English (frequency #80,691 among 36,575 “M” headwords), classed as a proper noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #80,691
- frequency rank, English
- 36,575
- “M” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - An ancient Greek city in the NE Peloponnesus on the plain of Argos, inhabited since about 4000 B.C.E.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | Mycenae |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Proper noun |
| IPA | /maɪˈsiːniː/ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Frequency rank | #80,691 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “Mycenae” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
Mycenae is uncommon English at frequency #80,691 among 36,575 “M” headwords, classed as aproper noun, transcribed /maɪˈsiːniː/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "An ancient Greek city in the NE Peloponnesus on the plain of Argos, inhabited since about 4000 B.C.E.".
No generated misspelling entries exist for Mycenae in our index, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. This headword has no recorded confusable partner, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Latin Mycenae, Ancient Greek Μυκῆναι (Mukênai), the name of the Ancient Greek city, from Μυκήνη (Mukḗnē), a nymph in Greek mythology who lived around Mycenae. Doublet of Mykines. Two traditional etymologies exist: * According to Pausanias, Perseus, the… The correct English form is Mycenae, spelled M-Y-C-E-N-A-E.
Definition
- 1An ancient Greek city in the NE Peloponnesus on the plain of Argos, inhabited since about 4000 B.C.E.
Etymology
From Latin Mycenae, Ancient Greek Μυκῆναι (Mukênai), the name of the Ancient Greek city, from Μυκήνη (Mukḗnē), a nymph in Greek mythology who lived around Mycenae. Doublet of Mykines. Two traditional etymologies exist: * According to Pausanias, Perseus, the legendary founder of the city, named it either after the cap of the sheath of his sword or after a mushroom he had plucked on the site (either way, the term would derive from Ancient Greek μύκης (múkēs)). * Homer connected the name to the abovementioned Mycene (or Mykene), daughter of Inachus, first King of Argos (Odyssey, 2.120). Homer was not alone in identifying Inachus as a river god, and thus Mycene as a nymph.
This word in other languages
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 “Mycenae”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is M-Y-C-E-N-A-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /maɪˈsiːniː/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Other uncommon English words near this rank
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.