musc

\mysk\

/\mysk\/ noun

The verdict

“musc” is a moderately-common French word, ranked #40,382 in French word frequency and used as a noun.

#40,382
frequency rank, French
4
letters
6
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Matière brune odorante que contient une poche située dans le ventre de certains cervidés d’Asie centrale.

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

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

musc vs muy
50% similar
musc vs muse
75% similar
musc vs must
75% similar

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

Key facts for musc
PropertyValue
Headwordmusc
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\mysk\
Letters4
Frequency rank#40,382
Misspellings tracked6
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “musc” 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). musc 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 musc is 4 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as \mysk\. Corpus data places it at rank #40,382 in overall French word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 3 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our generated misspelling index lists 6 likely wrong-spelling variants for musc, with forms such as "mmusc", "msuc", and "mucs". 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, "muy", "muse", "must", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

This entry's etymology isn't recorded, so its spelling is easiest to reason about phoneme by phoneme, absent a documented history. The correct French form is musc, spelled M-U-S-C.

Definition

  1. 1
    Matière brune odorante que contient une poche située dans le ventre de certains cervidés d’Asie centrale.
  2. 2
    Parfum préparé avec cette substance.
  3. 3
    Cervidé qui habite les pentes les plus raides et sauvages des hauts sommets de l'Asie.

Synonyms

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: mmusc,msuc,mucs,muscc,mussc,umsc

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of musc - 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.

mmusc1msuc2mucs2muscc1mussc1umsc2
Edit distance from "musc"

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 "musc"?
"musc" is spelled M-U-S-C. The IPA pronunciation is \mysk\.
What does "musc" mean?
As a noun, "musc" means: Matière brune odorante que contient une poche située dans le ventre de certains cervidés d’Asie centrale.
What words are commonly confused with "musc"?
"musc" is commonly confused with "muy", "muse", "must". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "musc"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "musc" is \mysk\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "musc" come from?
"musc" is a French word. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for this and other words across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German on PlainSpell.
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 “musc”

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

  • The one correct French spelling is M-U-S-C - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as \mysk\ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
  • Don't mix it up with “muy” - see the side-by-side comparison. musc vs muy
  • 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