map
/mæp/noun, verb
map is spelled M-A-P: 3 letters and one syllable. It appears 58 times per million words in written English, the 1,793rd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, map means “A visual representation of an area, whether real or imaginary, showing the relative positions of places and other features” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of map is maps.
How many letters and syllables are in map?
| Letters | 3: M-A-P |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 58 times per million words; the 1,793rd 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 and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; 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 map?
Map appears 58 times per million words in written English, the 1,793rd 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 map?
- US /mæp/
- British /map/
- /mɛp/
Map has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-map.ogg, En-uk-a_map.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with map?
11 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as map from its last stressed vowel (/æp/):
Spelled with the same letters in another order: amp, pam.
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 map
- maps plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- mapping participle, present
- mapped participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does map mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A visual representation of an area, whether real or imaginary, showing the relative positions of places and other features.
a map of Australia, a map of Lilliput
- 2
A graphical or logical representation of any structure or system, showing the positions of or relationships between its components.
a map of the Earth's magnetic field
- 3
A function, especially a function satisfying a certain property (e.g. continuity, linearity, etc.; see Usage notes).
Let f be a map from ℝ to ℝ
- 4
Any of various nymphalid butterflies of the genera Araschnia (especially, Araschnia levana) and Cyrestis, having map-like markings on the wings.
- 5
UKdatedThe face.
- 6
An imaginary or fictional area, often predefined and confined, where a game or a session thereof takes place.
I don't want to play this map again!
- 7
Synonym of associative array.
verb
- 1
To represent by means of a map.
This large atlas maps the whole world in very great detail.
- 2
To create a map of; to examine or survey in order to gather information for a map.
The team is mapping the route of the new railway line.
- 3
To have a direct relationship; to correspond.
This doesn't map to my understanding of how things should work.
- 4
To create a direct relationship to; to create a correspondence with.
Map "volume down" to the F2 key.
- 5
To act as a function on something, taking it to something else.
f maps A to B, mapping every a∈A to f(a)∈B.
- 6
To assign a drive letter to a shared folder.
noun
- 1
Initialism of missed approach point.
- 2
Initialism of modified American plan, a hotel rate that included accommodation, breakfast and dinner, but not lunch.
- 3
Initialism of microtubule-associated protein.
- 4
Initialism of modified atmosphere packaging.
- 5
Initialism of mean arterial pressure.
- 6
Acronym of methyl-acetylene propadiene.
- 7
Initialism of multiple aim point.
- 8
Initialism of minor-attracted person.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Map in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | carte, plan , application , cartographier , mapper, faire correspondre |
| German | Landkarte, Karte, Plan , Abbildung , abbilden, kartografieren |
| Portuguese | mapa, carta, carta geográfica , aplicação, transformação, função |
| Spanish | mapa, plano, carta , mapeo, función , mapear |
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 map come from?
Shortening or back-formation of Middle English mappemounde, mapemounde (“world map”), from Old French mapamonde, from Medieval Latin mappa mundī, compound of Latin mappa (“napkin, cloth”) and mundus (“world”). See mop for more on the first component. Doublet of mop, nape, and nappe.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).