memsahib
"memsahib" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“memsahib” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 8
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A white European woman in colonial India.
Corpus desk
Index EN-memsahib · memsahib · English
memsahib · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-LONG 8 letters
- VOW-3 3 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "M" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
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.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | memsahib |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| Letters | 8 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “memsahib” in English
Rare enough to double-check
memsahib is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "A white European woman in colonial India.".
memsahib has no tracked misspelling variants, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. Our dataset records no confusable match here, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.
Etymologically, the entry records: From ma'am + sahib. The correct English form is memsahib, spelled M-E-M-S-A-H-I-B.
Definition
- 1A white European woman in colonial India.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how memsahib appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
She had not wanted a little girl at all, and when Mary was born she handed her over to the care of an Ayah, who was made to understand that if she wished to please the Mem Sahib she must keep the child out of sight as much as possible
This might be accomplished literally through missionary work (Plate 5.1), but that tended to be unattractively pro-active and spinsterish, and it was rather the memsahibs, the mothers, wives and daughters of the white officers and administrators, who were to instil civilisation, through the example of their own moral refinement.
Etymology
From ma'am + sahib.
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.