ama

\a.ma\

/\a.ma\/ noun

The verdict

“ama” is a moderately-common French word, ranked #24,098 in French word frequency and used as a noun.

#24,098
frequency rank, French
3
letters
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Langue Left-May parlée en Nouvelle-Guinée dans le Sepik oriental.

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

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

ama vs au
33% similar
ama vs As
0% similar
ama vs an
33% similar

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

Key facts for ama
PropertyValue
Headwordama
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\a.ma\
Letters3
Frequency rank#24,098
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “ama” sits in French 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). ama 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 French entry for ama is 3 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as \a.ma\. Corpus data places it at rank #24,098 in overall French word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "Langue Left-May parlée en Nouvelle-Guinée dans le Sepik oriental.".

No misspelling variants are generated for ama in our index, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "au", "As", "an", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

Wiktionary doesn't record an etymology for this headword, so its spelling pattern is best understood through pronunciation rather than a traceable origin. The correct French form is ama, spelled A-M-A.

Definition

  1. 1
    Langue Left-May parlée en Nouvelle-Guinée dans le Sepik oriental.

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

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "ama"?
"ama" is spelled A-M-A. The IPA pronunciation is \a.ma\.
What does "ama" mean?
As a noun, "ama" means: Langue Left-May parlée en Nouvelle-Guinée dans le Sepik oriental.
What words are commonly confused with "ama"?
"ama" is commonly confused with "au", "As", "an". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "ama"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "ama" is \a.ma\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "ama" come from?
"ama" is a French 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 “ama”

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

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