mayday

[ˈmeɪdeɪ]

/[ˈmeɪdeɪ]/ intj

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

The verdict

“mayday” is uncommon German (frequency #58,086 among 3,571 “M” headwords), classed as an interjection. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#58,086
frequency rank, German
3,571
“M” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Notrufsignal im Sprechfunk

Corpus desk

Index DE-mayday · mayday · German

mayday · rank #58,086 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #58,086
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,571
  • PHOTO-FINISH maverick

Nearest frequency peer: maverick (-1 rank slots)

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.

Langschwanz-Ränge nahe „mayday“

Dünnes Band: Balken invertieren den Rang, seltenere Formen wirken kürzer

corpus weight

What this shows Langschwanz-Sicht: wo „mayday“ gegen ähnlich seltene deutsche Ränge sitzt.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for mayday
PropertyValue
Headwordmayday
LanguageGerman
Part of speechInterjection
IPA[ˈmeɪdeɪ]
Letters6
Frequency rank#58,086
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Langschwanz-Rang von „mayday“ im Deutschen

Diese Skala geht vom Kern des Alltagdeutschen (links) bis zum seltenen Langschwanz (rechts).maydayfällt in diesen Seltenheitsbereich:

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

Die Ticks laufen logarithmisch; jeder ist rund zehnmal seltener. Seltene Nachbarn derselben Bandbreite: „maverick“ (#58,085), „mehre“ (#58,087), „Massenschlägerei“ (#58,084). Unter 3,571 „M“-Lemmata liegt „mayday“ bei #58,086. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

mayday is uncommon German at frequency #58,086 among 3,571 “M” headwords, classed as aninterjection, transcribed [ˈmeɪdeɪ]. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Notrufsignal im Sprechfunk".

We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for mayday, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. No confusable counterpart is on file for this word, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.

No borrowing history is documented for this entry, so its spelling pattern is best understood through pronunciation rather than a traceable origin. The correct German form is mayday, spelled M-A-Y-D-A-Y.

Definition

  1. 1
    Notrufsignal im Sprechfunk

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 "mayday"?
"mayday" is spelled M-A-Y-D-A-Y. The IPA pronunciation is [ˈmeɪdeɪ].
What does "mayday" mean?
As an interjection, "mayday" means: Notrufsignal im Sprechfunk
How do you pronounce "mayday"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "mayday" is [ˈmeɪdeɪ]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "mayday" come from?
"mayday" is a German 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.

Similar German words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "mayday", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

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

malten#58,075Málaga#58,111Körben#58,042Käfige#58,040

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list