mayor

/ˈmɛə/

//ˈmɛə// noun

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

"mayor" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“mayor” has 7 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #2,396. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#2,396
frequency rank, English
4,057
“M” headwords
7
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - The chief executive of the municipal government of a city, borough, etc., formerly (historical) usually appointed as a caretaker by European royal courts but now usually appointed or elected locally.

Corpus desk

Index EN-mayor · mayor · English

mayor · rank #2,396 · 7 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #2,396
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 7 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,057
  • PHOTO-FINISH literature

Nearest frequency peer: literature (-1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Rank peers near misspelling magnet “mayor”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “mayor” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

mayor vs MOR
0% similar
mayor vs moor
60% similar
mayor vs Mays
40% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for mayor
PropertyValue
Headwordmayor
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈmɛə/
Letters5
Frequency rank#2,396
Misspellings tracked7
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “mayor”

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).mayorlands here:

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

Ticks step logarithmically, so each one marks a roughly tenfold drop in how often the word turns up. Same rarity band neighbours include “literature” (#2,395), “minor” (#2,397), “kingdom” (#2,394). Among 4,057 “M” headwords, “mayor” is #2,396. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 7 spelling variants around mayor (IPA /ˈmɛə/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #2,396 among 4,057 “M” headwords. Wiktionary lists 7 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 7 likely wrong-spelling variants for mayor, with forms such as "amyor", "maoyr", and "mayorr". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "MOR", "moor", "Mays", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *méǵh₂s Proto-Indo-European *-yōs Proto-Indo-European *méǵh₂yōs Proto-Italic *magjōs Latin maior Old French mairebor. Middle English maire English mayor From Middle English maire, from Old French maire (“head of a city or … The correct English form is mayor, spelled M-A-Y-O-R.

Definition

  1. 1
    The chief executive of the municipal government of a city, borough, etc., formerly (historical) usually appointed as a caretaker by European royal courts but now usually appointed or elected locally.
  2. 2
    Ellipsis of mayor of the palace, the royal stewards of the Frankish Empire.
  3. 3
    Synonym of mair, various former officials in the Kingdom of Scotland.
  4. 4
    A member of a city council.
  5. 5
    A high justice, an important judge.
  6. 6
    A largely ceremonial position in some municipal governments that presides over the city council while a contracted city manager holds actual executive power.
  7. 7
    A local VIP, a muckamuck or big shot reckoned to lead some local group.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how mayor appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. The office of mayor has been the tomb of many political ambitions.
  2. When the burdens of the Presidency seem unusually heavy, I always remind myself that it could be worse—I could be a mayor of a city instead.

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *méǵh₂s Proto-Indo-European *-yōs Proto-Indo-European *méǵh₂yōs Proto-Italic *magjōs Latin maior Old French mairebor. Middle English maire English mayor From Middle English maire, from Old French maire (“head of a city or town government”), a substantivation of Old French maire (“greater”), from Latin maior (“bigger, greater, superior”), comparative of magnus (“big, great”). Doublet of major. Cognate with Old High German meior (“estate manager, steward, bailiff”) (modern German Meier), Middle Dutch meier (“administrator, steward, bailiff”) (modern Dutch meier). Displaced Old English burgealdor (“a ruler of a city, mayor, citizen”), burhġerēfa (“boroughreeve”), and portġerēfa (“portreeve”).

Synonyms

mayoressburgomasterboroughmasterboroughreeveportreeveprovostLord Provostpraetor

This word in other languages

alcalde(Español)maire(Français)Bürgermeister(Deutsch)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • amyor
  • maoyr
  • mayorr
  • mayro
  • mayyor
  • mmayor
  • myaor

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of mayor - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.

amyor2maoyr2mayorr1mayro2mayyor1mmayor1myaor2
Edit distance from "mayor"

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 "mayor"?
"mayor" is spelled M-A-Y-O-R. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈmɛə/.
What does "mayor" mean?
As a noun, "mayor" means: The chief executive of the municipal government of a city, borough, etc., formerly (historical) usually appointed as a caretaker by European royal courts but now usually appointed or elected locally.
What words are commonly confused with "mayor"?
"mayor" is commonly confused with "MOR", "moor", "Mays". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "mayor"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "mayor" is /ˈmɛə/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "mayor"?
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *méǵh₂s Proto-Indo-European *-yōs Proto-Indo-European *méǵh₂yōs Proto-Italic *magjōs Latin maior Old French mairebor. Middle English maire English mayor From Middle English maire, from Old French maire (“head of ... 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.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "mayor", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

minor#2,397giant#2,390pages#2,402cream#2,383

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (7 here; floor ≥5).

theme7 variantsnovel7 variantsfalse7 variantscauses7 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list