barmaid

/ˈbɑː(ɹ).meɪd/

//ˈbɑː(ɹ).meɪd// noun

"barmaid" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“barmaid” is uncommon English (frequency #54,637 among 4,121 “B” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#54,637
frequency rank, English
4,121
“B” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A woman who serves in a bar.

Corpus desk

Index EN-barmaid · barmaid · English

barmaid · rank #54,637 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #54,637
  • LEN-LONG 7 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,121
  • PHOTO-FINISH bagger

Nearest frequency peer: bagger (-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.

Long-tail ranks near “barmaid”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

What this shows Long-tail view: where “barmaid” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for barmaid
PropertyValue
Headwordbarmaid
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈbɑː(ɹ).meɪd/
Letters7
Frequency rank#54,637
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “barmaid” in English

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).barmaidfalls in this rarity band:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Rare peers in the same band: “bagger” (#54,636), “Batu” (#54,638), “badness” (#54,634). Among 4,121 “B” headwords, “barmaid” is #54,637. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

barmaid is uncommon English at frequency #54,637 among 4,121 “B” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈbɑː(ɹ).meɪd/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "A woman who serves in a bar.".

barmaid doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, a sign its spelling follows regular English conventions. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.

Etymologically, the entry records: From bar + maid. The correct English form is barmaid, spelled B-A-R-M-A-I-D.

Definition

  1. 1
    A woman who serves in a bar.

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

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

  1. At one of the way-stations on his long journey a barmaid at a tavern speaks to Gilgamesh and tries to give him common sense on the human condition.

Etymology

From bar + maid.

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

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "barmaid"?
"barmaid" is spelled B-A-R-M-A-I-D. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈbɑː(ɹ).meɪd/.
What does "barmaid" mean?
As a noun, "barmaid" means: A woman who serves in a bar.
How do you pronounce "barmaid"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "barmaid" is /ˈbɑː(ɹ).meɪd/. 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 "barmaid"?
From bar + maid. 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 "barmaid", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 7 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list