ménage à trois
/ˌmeɪnɑːʒ ɑː ˈt(ɹ)wɑː/
"menage-a-trois" is a 12-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“ménage à trois” is outside the top-ranked English vocabulary, used as a noun - the kind of word writers most often double-check.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 14
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A household or relationship whereby three people live together as lovers.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | ménage à trois |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˌmeɪnɑːʒ ɑː ˈt(ɹ)wɑː/ |
| Letters | 14 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “ménage à trois” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for ménage à trois is 14 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˌmeɪnɑːʒ ɑː ˈt(ɹ)wɑː/. It sits outside the most-frequent rank tiers, which is often why uncommon words generate more spelling variants per reader. Wiktionary records 2 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
No misspelling variants are generated for ménage à trois in our index, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.
Etymologically, the entry records: Borrowed from French ménage à trois (literally “household of three”). The correct English form is ménage à trois, spelled M-É-N-A-G-E- -À- -T-R-O-I-S.
Definition
- 1A household or relationship whereby three people live together as lovers.
- 2A sexual act or experience involving three people; a threesome.
Etymology
Borrowed from French ménage à trois (literally “household of three”).
This word in other languages
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.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Using “ménage à trois”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is M-É-N-A-G-E- -À- -T-R-O-I-S - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˌmeɪnɑːʒ ɑː ˈt(ɹ)wɑː/ (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
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.