mae

[ˈmae]

/[ˈmae]/ noun

The verdict

“mae” is a moderately-common Spanish word, ranked #17,199 in Spanish word frequency and used as a noun.

#17,199
frequency rank, Spanish
3
letters
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Tratamiento coloquial y general para personas, especialmente jóvenes del sexo masculino.

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

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

mae vs mi
33% similar
mae vs mm
33% similar
mae vs my
33% similar

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

Key facts for mae
PropertyValue
Headwordmae
LanguageSpanish
Part of speechNoun
IPA[ˈmae]
Letters3
Frequency rank#17,199
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “mae” sits in Spanish 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). mae lands here:

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

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

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The Spanish entry for mae is 3 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as [ˈmae]. Corpus data places it at rank #17,199 in overall Spanish word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "Tratamiento coloquial y general para personas, especialmente jóvenes del sexo masculino.".

No generated misspelling entries exist for mae in our index, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "mi", "mm", "my", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

No explicit etymology string is stored for this entry, so its spelling is best read as a straightforward mapping from sound to letter. The correct Spanish form is mae, spelled M-A-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Tratamiento coloquial y general para personas, especialmente jóvenes del sexo masculino.

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 Spanish corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "mae"?
"mae" is spelled M-A-E. The IPA pronunciation is [ˈmae].
What does "mae" mean?
As a noun, "mae" means: Tratamiento coloquial y general para personas, especialmente jóvenes del sexo masculino.
What words are commonly confused with "mae"?
"mae" is commonly confused with "mi", "mm", "my". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "mae"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "mae" is [ˈmae]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "mae" come from?
"mae" is a Spanish word. PlainSpell's reference spans five languages -- English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German -- with definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for each.
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 “mae”

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

  • The one correct Spanish spelling is M-A-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as [ˈmae] (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
  • Don't mix it up with “mi” - see the side-by-side comparison. mae vs mi
  • Browse more Spanish words and confusable pairs in the same reference. Spanish 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.

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

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