maiden

/ˈmeɪdən/

//ˈmeɪdən// noun

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

"maiden" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“maiden” has 8 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #9,359. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#9,359
frequency rank, English
4,057
“M” headwords
8
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A girl or an unmarried young woman.

Corpus desk

Index EN-maiden · maiden · English

maiden · rank #9,359 · 8 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #9,359
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 8 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,057
  • PHOTO-FINISH louder

Nearest frequency peer: louder (-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.

Rank peers near misspelling magnet “maiden”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “maiden” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

maiden vs main
67% similar
maiden vs Maine
50% similar
maiden vs maize
67% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for maiden
PropertyValue
Headwordmaiden
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈmeɪdən/
Letters6
Frequency rank#9,359
Misspellings tracked8
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “maiden”

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).maidenlands here:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Same rarity band neighbours include “louder” (#9,358), “marching” (#9,360), “marketplace” (#9,361). Among 4,057 “M” headwords, “maiden” is #9,359. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 8 spelling variants around maiden (IPA /ˈmeɪdən/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #9,359 among 4,057 “M” headwords. Wiktionary lists 12 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 8 likely wrong-spelling variants for maiden, with forms such as "amiden", "madien", and "maidden". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "main", "Maine", "maize", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English mayden, meiden, from Old English mæġden (“girl”), originally a diminutive of mæġeþ (“girl”) via diminutive suffix -en, from Proto-West Germanic *magaþ, from Proto-Germanic *magaþs. Equivalent to maid + -en. The correct English form is maiden, spelled M-A-I-D-E-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    A girl or an unmarried young woman.
  2. 2
    A female virgin.
  3. 3
    A man with no experience of sex, especially because of deliberate abstention.
  4. 4
    A maidservant.
  5. 5
    A clothes maiden.
  6. 6
    An unmarried woman, especially an older woman.
  7. 7
    A racehorse without any victory, i.e. one having a "virgin record".
  8. 8
    A horse race in which all starters are maidens.
  9. 9
    A Scottish counterpart of the guillotine.
  10. 10
    A maiden over.
  11. 11
    A machine for washing linen.
  12. 12
    Alternative form of Maiden.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. She's unmarried and still a maiden.
  2. As for that ſaid ſire Bors I wille be ſhryuen with a good wylle / Soo ſyr Bors was confeſſyd / and for al wymmen ſir Bors was a vyrgyne / ſauf for one / that was the doughter of kynge Brangorys / and on her he gat a child that hyghte Elayne / and ſauf for her ſyre Bors was a clene mayden[…]

Etymology

From Middle English mayden, meiden, from Old English mæġden (“girl”), originally a diminutive of mæġeþ (“girl”) via diminutive suffix -en, from Proto-West Germanic *magaþ, from Proto-Germanic *magaþs. Equivalent to maid + -en.

Synonyms

bachelorette

This word in other languages

doncella(Español)jeune fille(Français)Jungfrau(Deutsch)donzela(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • amiden
  • madien
  • maidden
  • maidenn
  • maidne
  • maiedn
  • miaden
  • mmaiden

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of maiden - 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.

amiden2madien2maidden1maidenn1maidne2maiedn2miaden2mmaiden1
Edit distance from "maiden"

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 "maiden"?
"maiden" is spelled M-A-I-D-E-N. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈmeɪdən/.
What does "maiden" mean?
As a noun, "maiden" means: A girl or an unmarried young woman.
What words are commonly confused with "maiden"?
"maiden" is commonly confused with "main", "Maine", "maize". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "maiden"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "maiden" is /ˈmeɪdən/. 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 "maiden"?
From Middle English mayden, meiden, from Old English mæġden (“girl”), originally a diminutive of mæġeþ (“girl”) via diminutive suffix -en, from Proto-West Germanic *magaþ, from Proto-Germanic *magaþs. Equivalent to maid + -en. 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 "maiden", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

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

louder#9,358joints#9,352nickel#9,370hacked#9,341

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (8 here; floor ≥5).

hatch8 variantsgrams8 variantspoured8 variantsendure8 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list