ménage
/mɛˈnɑːʒ/
"menage" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“ménage” is uncommon English (frequency #73,465 among 36,575 “M” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #73,465
- frequency rank, English
- 36,575
- “M” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A household; a domestic situation.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | ménage |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /mɛˈnɑːʒ/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #73,465 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “ménage” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
ménage is uncommon English at frequency #73,465 among 36,575 “M” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /mɛˈnɑːʒ/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.
The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for ménage, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. Our dataset records no confusable match here, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.
Etymologically, the entry records: Borrowed from French ménage; compare Middle English menage, a parallel borrowing from an earlier form of the French word. The correct English form is ménage, spelled M-É-N-A-G-E.
Definition
- 1A household; a domestic situation.
- 2A type of cooperative society whereby all members pay a regular sum of savings, or through which goods can be paid for in installments.
- 3A group of people in a sexual relationship; especially, such a group that live together; the relationship itself.
Etymology
Borrowed from French ménage; compare Middle English menage, a parallel borrowing from an earlier form of the French word.
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
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Using “ménage”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is M-É-N-A-G-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /mɛˈnɑːʒ/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- 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.