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PlainSpell

massage

/məˈsɑ(d)ʒ/noun, verb

massage is spelled M-A-S-S-A-G-E: 7 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 10 times per million words in written English, the 7,009th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). People search “massage vs message” about 720 times a month (Google, United States). As a noun, massage means “The action of rubbing, kneading or hitting someone's body, to help the person relax, prepare for muscular action (as in contact sports) or to relieve…” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of massage is massages.

How many letters and syllables are in massage?

Letters7: M-A-S-S-A-G-E
Syllables2 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing10 times per million words; the 7,009th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Pairs people search
Rhymes with

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); 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); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How common is massage?

Massage appears 10 times per million words in written English, the 7,009th 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 massage?

  • UK /ˈmæsɑː(d)ʒ/
  • UK /məˈsɑː(d)ʒ/
  • US /məˈsɑ(d)ʒ/

Massage has 2 syllables (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: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-massage.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Words people confuse with massage

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

massage vs message720 G

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

What rhymes with massage?

9 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as massage from its last stressed vowel (/ɑʒ/):

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 massage

  • massages plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • massaging participle, present
  • massaged participle, past

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

What does massage mean?

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

noun

  1. 1

    The action of rubbing, kneading or hitting someone's body, to help the person relax, prepare for muscular action (as in contact sports) or to relieve aches.

    Having a massage can have many beneficial effects.

  2. 2

    The action of rubbing or kneading anything.

    The baker gave the dough one final massage.

verb

  1. 1

    To rub and knead (someone's body or body part), to perform a massage on (somebody).

    My neck doesn't hurt as much as it did last night since my wife massaged me after I got back from the concert.

  2. 2

    To rub or knead anything.

    Massage the kale to soften it before making the salad.

  3. 3

    To manipulate (data, a document etc.) to make it more presentable or more convenient to work with.

  4. 4

    To falsify (data or accounts).

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

Massage in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchmassage (rubbing, kneading, or hitting muscled part of a…), masser (to perform a massage on somebody)
GermanMassage (rubbing, kneading, or hitting muscled part of a…), massieren (to perform a massage on somebody), schönen (to manipulate data or a document)
Portuguesemassagem (rubbing, kneading, or hitting muscled part of a…), massagear, massajar (to perform a massage on somebody)
Spanishmasaje (rubbing, kneading, or hitting muscled part of a…), masajear (to perform a massage on somebody)

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 massage come from?

From French massage (noun), from masser (“to massage”) (borrowed around the end of the 18th century from Arabic مَسَّ (massa, “feel, touch”), or from Portuguese amassar) + -age. Cognate to German massieren.

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

What to look up after massage