madam
/ˈmæd.əm/
"madam" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“madam” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #13,192 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #13,192
- frequency rank, English
- 5
- letters
- 7
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A polite form of address for a woman or lady.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | madam |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈmæd.əm/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #13,192 |
| Misspellings tracked | 7 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “madam” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for madam is 5 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈmæd.əm/. Corpus data places it at rank #13,192 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 5 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 7 likely wrong-spelling variants for madam, with forms such as "amdam", "maadm", and "madamm". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "mam", "MDA", "made", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English madame, from Old French madame, from ma (“my”) + dame (“lady”), from post-classical Latin mea domina. Doublet of Madonna. The correct English form is madam, spelled M-A-D-A-M.
Definition
- 1A polite form of address for a woman or lady.
- 2The mistress of a household.
- 3A conceited or quarrelsome girl.
- 4A woman who runs a brothel, particularly one that specializes in finding prostitutes for rich and important clients.
- 5A hated or contemptuous woman; used as a general term of abuse
Etymology
From Middle English madame, from Old French madame, from ma (“my”) + dame (“lady”), from post-classical Latin mea domina. Doublet of Madonna.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: amdam,maadm,madamm,maddam,madma,mdaam,mmadam
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of madam - 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.
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
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Using “madam”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is M-A-D-A-M - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈmæd.əm/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “mam” - see the side-by-side comparison. madam vs mam
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English 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.