salmon

/ˈsæmən/

//ˈsæmən// noun

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

"salmon" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“salmon” has 9 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #7,055. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#7,055
frequency rank, English
6,566
“S” headwords
9
tracked misspellings
19
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - One of several species of fish, typically of the Salmoninae subfamily, brownish above with silvery sides and delicate pinkish-orange flesh; they ascend rivers to spawn.

Corpus desk

Index EN-salmon · salmon · English

salmon · rank #7,055 · 9 variants · 19 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #7,055
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 19 pairs
  • VAR-MID 9 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 6,566
  • PHOTO-FINISH sail

Nearest frequency peer: sail (-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.

Rank peers near misspelling magnet “salmon”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “salmon” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

salmon vs Simon
50% similar
salmon vs salon
83% similar
salmon vs Saxon
50% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for salmon
PropertyValue
Headwordsalmon
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈsæmən/
Letters6
Frequency rank#7,055
Misspellings tracked9
Confusable pairs19
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “salmon”

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).salmonlands here:

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

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Same rarity band neighbours include “sail” (#7,054), “secretly” (#7,056), “seller” (#7,057). Among 6,566 “S” headwords, “salmon” is #7,055. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 9 spelling variants around salmon (IPA /ˈsæmən/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #7,055 among 6,566 “S” headwords. Wiktionary lists 6 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 9 likely wrong-spelling variants for salmon, with forms such as "aslmon", "sallmon", and "salmmon". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 19 confusable-pair relationships, "Simon", "salon", "Saxon", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English samoun, samon, saumon, from Anglo-Norman saumon, from Old French saumon, from Latin salmō, salmōn-. Widely displaced native Middle English lax, from Old English leax (whence modern dialectal lax). The unpronounced l was later inserted to… The correct English form is salmon, spelled S-A-L-M-O-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    One of several species of fish, typically of the Salmoninae subfamily, brownish above with silvery sides and delicate pinkish-orange flesh; they ascend rivers to spawn.
  2. 2
    A meal or dish made from this fish.
  3. 3
    A pale pinkish-orange colour, the colour of cooked salmon.
  4. 4
    The upper bricks in a kiln which receive the least heat.
  5. 5
    snout (tobacco; from salmon and trout)
  6. 6
    canned fish, usually mackerel.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. grilled salmon
  2. salmon steak

Etymology

From Middle English samoun, samon, saumon, from Anglo-Norman saumon, from Old French saumon, from Latin salmō, salmōn-. Widely displaced native Middle English lax, from Old English leax (whence modern dialectal lax). The unpronounced l was later inserted to make the word appear closer to its Latin root (compare words like debt, indict, receipt for the same spelling Latinizations). The verb sense “ride a bicycle the wrong way down a one-way street” alludes to salmon swimming upstream against the flow of a river to spawn.

This word in other languages

salmón(Español)saumon(Français)Lachs(Deutsch)salmão(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • aslmon
  • sallmon
  • salmmon
  • salmno
  • salmonn
  • salomn
  • samlon
  • slamon
  • ssalmon

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of salmon - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.

aslmon2sallmon1salmmon1salmno2salmonn1salomn2samlon2slamon2
Edit distance from "salmon"

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 "salmon"?
"salmon" is spelled S-A-L-M-O-N. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈsæmən/.
What does "salmon" mean?
As a noun, "salmon" means: One of several species of fish, typically of the Salmoninae subfamily, brownish above with silvery sides and delicate pinkish-orange flesh; they ascend rivers to spawn.
What words are commonly confused with "salmon"?
"salmon" is commonly confused with "Simon", "salon", "Saxon". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "salmon"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "salmon" is /ˈsæmən/. 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 "salmon"?
From Middle English samoun, samon, saumon, from Anglo-Norman saumon, from Old French saumon, from Latin salmō, salmōn-. Widely displaced native Middle English lax, from Old English leax (whence modern dialectal lax). The unpronounced l was later i... 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 "salmon", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

seller#7,057prizes#7,046timber#7,072Travis#7,074

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (9 here; floor ≥5).

nephew9 variantswolves9 variantsinsert9 variantsArnold9 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list