mois

\mwa\

/\mwa\/ noun

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

The verdict

“mois” is in the everyday core of French, ranked #184 in French word frequency and used as a noun.

#184
frequency rank, French
4
letters
4
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Chacune des douze parties de l’année, dont chacune contient trente ou trente et un jours, excepté la seconde (février), qui est de vingt-huit jours dans les années ordinaires, et de vingt-neuf dans...

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

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

mois vs ms
50% similar
mois vs mon
50% similar
mois vs mot
50% similar

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

Key facts for mois
PropertyValue
Headwordmois
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\mwa\
Letters4
Frequency rank#184
Misspellings tracked4
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “mois” sits in French frequency

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

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The French entry for mois is 4 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as \mwa\. Corpus data places it at rank #184 in overall French word frequency, putting it firmly in the everyday core of the language. Wiktionary records 5 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our generated misspelling index lists 4 likely wrong-spelling variants for mois, with forms such as "mios", "mmois", and "moiss". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "ms", "mon", "mot", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Wiktionary doesn't record an etymology for this headword, so its spelling is easiest explained by how it's pronounced rather than where it came from. The correct French form is mois, spelled M-O-I-S.

Definition

  1. 1
    Chacune des douze parties de l’année, dont chacune contient trente ou trente et un jours, excepté la seconde (février), qui est de vingt-huit jours dans les années ordinaires, et de vingt-neuf dans les années bissextiles.
  2. 2
    Espace de temps qui s’écoule depuis un jour quelconque jusqu’au quantième correspondant du mois suivant. Espace de trente jours environ.
  3. 3
    Espace de temps qui s’écoule depuis un jour quelconque jusqu’au quantième correspondant du mois suivant. Espace de trente jours environ.
  4. 4
    Mensualité en parlant de location, de leçons, de travail, etc.
  5. 5
    Menstrues.

This word in other languages

month(English)mes(Español)Monat(Deutsch)mês(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: mios,mmois,moiss,mosi

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of mois - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.

mios2mmois1moiss1mosi2
Edit distance from "mois"

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 French corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "mois"?
"mois" is spelled M-O-I-S. The IPA pronunciation is \mwa\.
What does "mois" mean?
As a noun, "mois" means: Chacune des douze parties de l’année, dont chacune contient trente ou trente et un jours, excepté la seconde (février), qui est de vingt-huit jours dans les années ordinaires, et de vingt-neuf dans...
What words are commonly confused with "mois"?
"mois" is commonly confused with "ms", "mon", "mot". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "mois"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "mois" is \mwa\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "mois" come from?
"mois" is a French word. PlainSpell's reference spans five languages -- English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German -- with definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for each.
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.

Using “mois”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct French spelling is M-O-I-S - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as \mwa\ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
  • Don't mix it up with “ms” - see the side-by-side comparison. mois vs ms
  • Browse more French words and confusable pairs in the same reference. French 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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list