# Marseille

> English word · Proper noun · IPA /mɑː(ɹ)ˈseɪ/ · frequency rank #21,271

## Definitions
1. The capital city of Bouches-du-Rhône department, France; the capital city of the region of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur.

## Etymology
From French Marseille (supplanting earlier Marseilles, derived from the Old French nominative form), from Latin Massilia, Marsilia, from Ancient Greek Μασσαλία (Massalía), probably from a pre-Latin language of Italy, perhaps Ancient Ligurian mas (“spring”). The r was probably retained from Arabic مَرْسَى (marsā, “harbor”).

## Easily confused with
- **Marseilles** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/marseille-vs-marseilles)
- **Marysville** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/marseille-vs-marysville)

## Common misspellings (11)
`amrseille`, `maresille`, `marrseille`, `marseile`, `marseilel`, `marselile`, `marsielle`, `marsseille`, `masreille`, `mmarseille`, `mraseille`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/marseille