massif
/mæˈsiːf/noun
massif is spelled M-A-S-S-I-F: 6 letters and 2 syllables. It appears about once in every 3 million words in written English, the 47,073rd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, massif means “A principal mountain mass” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of massif is massifs.
How many letters and syllables are in massif?
| Letters | 6: M-A-S-S-I-F |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 3 million words; the 47,073rd most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
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).
How common is massif?
Massif appears about once in every 3 million words in written English, the 47,073rd 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 massif?
- /mæˈsiːf/
- /ˈmæsɪf/
Massif 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-massif.wav, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-massif2.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of massif
- massifs plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does massif mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A principal mountain mass.
- 2
A block of the earth's crust bounded by faults or flexures and displaced as a unit without internal change; normally consists of gneisses and schists.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Massif in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense principal mountain mass:
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 massif come from?
Borrowed from French massif, from Middle French massif, ultimately from Latin massa, from Ancient Greek μᾶζα (mâza, “barley-cake, lump (of dough)”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).