# maw

> English word · Noun · IPA /mɔː/ · frequency rank #30,495

## Definitions
1. The stomach, especially of an animal.
2. The upper digestive tract (where food enters the body), especially the mouth and jaws of a fearsome and ravenous creature; craw.
3. The mouth.
4. Any large, insatiable or perilous opening.
5. Appetite; inclination.
6. The swim bladder of a fish, especially when used as food in Chinese cuisine.

## Etymology
From Middle English mawe, maghe, maȝe, from Old English maga (“stomach; maw”), from Proto-West Germanic *magō, from Proto-Germanic *magô (“belly; stomach”), from Proto-Indo-European *mak-, *maks- (“bag, bellows, belly”).
Cognates
Cognate with West Frisian mage, Dutch maag (“stomach; belly”), German Low German Maag, German Magen (“stomach”), Danish mave,
Norwegian mage (“stomach”), Swedish mage (“stomach; belly”), and also with Welsh megin (“bellows”), archaic Russian мошна́ (mošná, “pocket, bag”), Lithuanian mãkas (“purse”), Finnish maha (“stomach”), Estonian magu (“stomach”).

## Easily confused with
- **my** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/maw-vs-my)
- **ME** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/maw-vs-me)
- **Mr** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/maw-vs-mr)
- **MS** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/maw-vs-ms)
- **MM** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/maw-vs-mm)
- **MO** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/maw-vs-mo)
- **mi** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/maw-vs-mi)
- **MP** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/maw-vs-mp)
- **MD** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/maw-vs-md)
- **MT** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/maw-vs-mt)
- **MG** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/maw-vs-mg)
- **MC** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/maw-vs-mc)
- **ML** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/maw-vs-ml)
- **MB** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/maw-vs-mb)
- **MN** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/maw-vs-mn)
- **mu** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/maw-vs-mu)
- **MK** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/maw-vs-mk)
- **MW** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/maw-vs-mw)
- **MV** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/maw-vs-mv)
- **MJ** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/maw-vs-mj)

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