noma
/ˈnəʊ̯mə/
"noma" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“noma” is an uncommon English word, ranked #52,524 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #52,524
- frequency rank, English
- 4
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A gangrenous disease of humans leading to tissue destruction of the face, especially the mouth and cheek.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | noma |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈnəʊ̯mə/ |
| Letters | 4 |
| Frequency rank | #52,524 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “noma” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for noma is 4 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈnəʊ̯mə/. Corpus data places it at rank #52,524 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "A gangrenous disease of humans leading to tissue destruction of the face, especially the mouth and cheek.".
Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for noma, suggesting the orthography follows predictable English patterns. This headword has no recorded confusable partner, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.
Etymologically, the entry records: Borrowed from New Latin noma from Latin nomē from Ancient Greek νομή (nomḗ, “spreading (of sores)”) from νέμω (némō, “feed, devour, spread (of sores)”). The correct English form is noma, spelled N-O-M-A.
Definition
- 1A gangrenous disease of humans leading to tissue destruction of the face, especially the mouth and cheek.
Etymology
Borrowed from New Latin noma from Latin nomē from Ancient Greek νομή (nomḗ, “spreading (of sores)”) from νέμω (némō, “feed, devour, spread (of sores)”).
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 “noma”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is N-O-M-A - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈnəʊ̯mə/ (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
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.