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madam

mad·am/ˈmædəm/noun, verb

madam is spelled M-A-D-A-M: 5 letters and 2 syllables (mad·am). It appears 3.9 times per million words in written English, the 13,127th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). People search “madam vs madame” about 3,600 times a month (Google, United States). As a noun, madam means “A polite form of address for a woman or lady” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of madam is madams or mesdames.

How many letters and syllables are in madam?

Letters5: M-A-D-A-M
Syllables2: mad·am
In writing3.9 times per million words; the 13,127th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Pairs people search

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026).

How common is madam?

Madam appears 3.9 times per million words in written English, the 13,127th most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce madam?

  • /ˈmædəm/
  • [ˈmædəm] ~ [ˈmædm̩]
  • /mɐˈdam/

Madam has 2 syllables, split mad·am in writing.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-au-madam.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Words people confuse with madam

Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).

madam vs madame3,600 G

Also written: madame.

Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).

Forms of madam

  • madams plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • mesdames plural
  • madame
  • madaming participle, present
  • madamming participle, present, rare
  • madamed participle, past
  • madammed participle, past, rare

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does madam mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

noun

  1. 1

    A polite form of address for a woman or lady.

    Mrs Grey wondered if the outfit she was trying on made her look fat. The sales assistant just said, “It suits you, madam”.

  2. 2

    The mistress of a household.

  3. 3

    colloquialA conceited or quarrelsome girl.

    Selina kept pushing and shoving during musical chairs. The nursery school teacher said she was a bad-tempered little madam.

  4. 4

    slangA woman who runs a brothel, particularly one that specializes in finding prostitutes for rich and important clients.

    After she grew too old to work as a prostitute, she became a madam.

  5. 5

    IndiaderogatoryslangA hated or contemptuous woman; used as a general term of abuse

verb

  1. 1

    To address as "madam".

  2. 2

    rareTo be a madam; to run (a brothel).

noun

as Madam
  1. 1

    Alternative letter-case form of madam.

  2. 2

    A polite form of address and title, abbreviated Mdm, used before a (usually middle-aged) adult or elderly woman's surname, full name or given name if she does not have a family name.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Madam in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchmadame (polite term of address to a woman), mère maquerelle, maquerelle, tenancière, tenancière d’une maison close, souteneuse (woman who manages a brothel)
GermanFrau, Fräulein (polite term of address to a woman), Puffmutter, Bordellwirtin (woman who manages a brothel)
Portuguesemadame, madama, senhora (polite term of address to a woman), cafetina (woman who manages a brothel)
Spanishseñora (polite term of address to a woman), cabrona, mami (woman who manages a brothel)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does madam come from?

From Middle English madame, from Old French madame, from ma (“my”) + dame (“lady”), from post-classical Latin mea domina. Doublet of Madonna.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after madam