maim
/meɪm/verb
maim is spelled M-A-I-M: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 44,767th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, maim means “To wound seriously; to cause permanent loss of function of a limb or part of the body” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in maim?
| Letters | 4: M-A-I-M |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 |
| In writing | about once in every 2 million words; the 44,767th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with | |
| Same letters |
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); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is maim?
Maim appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 44,767th 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 maim?
- US /meɪm/
Maim has one syllable.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-maim.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with maim?
9 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as maim from its last stressed vowel (/eɪm/):
Spelled with the same letters in another order: imam, imma, mami.
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of maim
- maims present, singular, he/she/it
- maiming participle, present
- maimed participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does maim mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
verb
- 1
To wound seriously; to cause permanent loss of function of a limb or part of the body.
He was maimed by a bear.
noun
- 1
obsoleteA severe, serious wound.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Maim in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense to cause permanent loss of a part of the body:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | mutiler, estropier |
| German | verstümmeln, verschandeln |
| Portuguese | mutilar |
| Spanish | mutilar |
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 maim come from?
From Middle English maymen, mahaymen, from Anglo-Norman maheimer, mahaigner, of Germanic origin; see mayhem.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).