mayfly

noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"mayfly" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“mayfly” is uncommon English (frequency #91,787 among 36,575 “M” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#91,787
frequency rank, English
36,575
“M” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Any of the many fragile insects of the order Ephemeroptera that develop in fresh water and live very briefly as winged adults.

Key facts for mayfly
PropertyValue
Headwordmayfly
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
Letters6
Frequency rank#91,787
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “mayfly” sits in English frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). mayfly lands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

mayfly is uncommon English at frequency #91,787 among 36,575 “M” headwords, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

mayfly doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.

Etymologically, the entry records: From May + fly. Compare Saterland Frisian Moaifljooge (“blowfly”). The correct English form is mayfly, spelled M-A-Y-F-L-Y.

Definition

  1. 1
    Any of the many fragile insects of the order Ephemeroptera that develop in fresh water and live very briefly as winged adults.
  2. 2
    Characterized by a short duration; short-lived.

Etymology

From May + fly. Compare Saterland Frisian Moaifljooge (“blowfly”).

This word in other languages

efímera(Español)éphémère(Français)Eintagsfliege(Deutsch)

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "mayfly"?
"mayfly" is spelled M-A-Y-F-L-Y.
What does "mayfly" mean?
As a noun, "mayfly" means: Any of the many fragile insects of the order Ephemeroptera that develop in fresh water and live very briefly as winged adults.
What is the origin of the word "mayfly"?
From May + fly. Compare Saterland Frisian Moaifljooge (“blowfly”). See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Using “mayfly”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct English spelling is M-A-Y-F-L-Y - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words

Other uncommon English words near this rank

Data Source

Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list