Mahr
[maːɐ̯]
The verdict
“Mahr” is uncommon German (frequency #63,545 among 44,424 “M” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #63,545
- frequency rank, German
- 44,424
- “M” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - (früher als Frauengestalt vorgestelltes) Nachtgespenst, das Schlafende quält, indem es sich nachts auf ihre Brust setzt; Alp
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | Mahr |
| Language | German |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | [maːɐ̯] |
| Letters | 4 |
| Frequency rank | #63,545 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “Mahr” sits in German frequency
Rare enough to double-check
Mahr is uncommon German at frequency #63,545 among 44,424 “M” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed [maːɐ̯]. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.
Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for Mahr, a sign its spelling follows regular German conventions. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.
This entry carries no recorded etymology, leaving phoneme-to-grapheme mapping as the best guide to its spelling rather than a borrowing history. The correct German form is Mahr, spelled M-A-H-R.
Definition
- 1(früher als Frauengestalt vorgestelltes) Nachtgespenst, das Schlafende quält, indem es sich nachts auf ihre Brust setzt; Alp
- 2Mahr lässt sich auf das feminine althochdeutsche mara und das sowohl maskuline als auch feminine mittelhochdeutsche mar oder mare zurückführen. Hierher gehören auch das maskuline (und vielleicht auch feminine) mittelniederdeutsche mār oder māre, das feminine mittelniederländische māre, das ebenfalls feminine altenglische mare ^(→ ang), das englische (night)mare ^(→ en), das feminine altnordische mara ^(→ non) und das schwedische mara ^(→ sv). Verwandte Formen sind das tschechische můra ^(→ cs) ‚Albe‘, die russische Form кикимора (kikimora^☆) ^(→ ru) ‚Gespenst, das nachts aktiv ist; Hausgeist‘, außerdem das serbokroatisch-kirchenslawische mora ‚Hexe‘ und das altirische morīgain oder auch morrīgain ‚Alpkönigin‘. Aus all diesen Formen kann auf ein indoeuropäisches feminines *morā ‚Albe‘ geschlossen werden, das sich mit der Wurzel *mer(ə)- ‚reiben, aufreiben‘ in Verbindung bringen lässt.
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 German corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you spell "Mahr"?
What does "Mahr" mean?
How do you pronounce "Mahr"?
What language does "Mahr" come from?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Using “Mahr”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct German spelling is M-A-H-R - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as [maːɐ̯] (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Browse more German words and confusable pairs in the same reference. German words
Other uncommon German 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.