macadam

\ma.ka.dam\

/\ma.ka.dam\/ noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

The verdict

“macadam” has 10 generated spelling variants in the French index at frequency #47,436. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#47,436
frequency rank, French
5,038
“M” headwords
10
tracked misspellings

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Empierrement de routes ou de pavage de rues qui se fait avec des cailloux ou du granit concassé, fortement comprimés.

Corpus desk

Index FR-macadam · macadam · French

macadam · rank #47,436 · 10 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #47,436
  • LEN-LONG 7 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-MID 10 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 5,038
  • PHOTO-FINISH Mads

Nearest frequency peer: Mads (+1 rank slots)

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.

Pairs de rang près de l'aimant d'erreurs « macadam »

Même bande de rareté: utile si une faute tombe sur un lemme voisin

corpus weight

What this shows « macadam » siège parmi ces pairs FrequencyWords; la profondeur des fautes est suivie à part dans le graphique d'édition.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for macadam
PropertyValue
Headwordmacadam
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\ma.ka.dam\
Letters7
Frequency rank#47,436
Misspellings tracked10
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Fréquence de l'aimant d'erreurs « macadam »

La fréquence va de la poignée de mots du quotidien (gauche) à la longue queue presque jamais vue (droite).macadamse place ici:

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

L'échelle est logarithmique (chaque tic ≈ 10× plus rare). Dans la même bande de rareté figurent « Mads » (#47,437), « Lucques » (#47,434), « Magalie » (#47,438). Parmi 5,038 lemmes en « M », « macadam » est au #47,436. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 10 spelling variants around macadam (IPA \ma.ka.dam\), anoun. Corpus frequency is #47,436 among 5,038 “M” headwords. Wiktionary lists 5 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 10 likely wrong-spelling variants for macadam, with forms such as "amcadam", "maacdam", and "macaadm". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.

This entry carries no recorded etymology, so its spelling is easiest explained by how it's pronounced rather than where it came from. The correct French form is macadam, spelled M-A-C-A-D-A-M.

Definition

  1. 1
    Empierrement de routes ou de pavage de rues qui se fait avec des cailloux ou du granit concassé, fortement comprimés.
  2. 2
    Chaussée ou trottoir ainsi empierré.
  3. 3
    Couche d’asphalte ou d'enrobé bitumineux utilisé comme revêtement de la chaussée.
  4. 4
    Toutes sortes de route, et en particulier les routes goudronnées.
  5. 5
    Escroquerie aux assurances maladies.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how macadam appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Ce sont ces chemins qu'il s'agit de macadamiser; non pas au moyen de pierres jetées à tort et à travers, mais au moyen d'un macadam de 2m. 50 c. de large, avec fossés pour l'écoulement des eaux; un macadam bien fait, recouvert en matière dure, quoique tendre au fond.
  2. Il se présentait, à Paris, sous quatre formes différentes: D'abord, le pavé: […]. Ce revêtement en pierre ne présentait d'autre inconvénient que sa sonorité. Ensuite, on trouvait le macadam, mélange de pierre concassée et de sable, qui fit son apparition dans les années 1880: en 1887, 1.607.900 m2 de rues étaient macadamisées. Les chaussées à macadam, for…

This word in other languages

macadam(English)macadán(Español)Makadam(Deutsch)macadam(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • amcadam
  • maacdam
  • macaadm
  • macadamm
  • macaddam
  • macadma
  • maccadam
  • macdaam
  • mcaadam
  • mmacadam

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of macadam - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.

amcadam2maacdam2macaadm2macadamm1macaddam1macadma2maccadam1macdaam2
Edit distance from "macadam"

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 "macadam"?
"macadam" is spelled M-A-C-A-D-A-M. The IPA pronunciation is \ma.ka.dam\.
What does "macadam" mean?
As a noun, "macadam" means: Empierrement de routes ou de pavage de rues qui se fait avec des cailloux ou du granit concassé, fortement comprimés.
What are common misspellings of "macadam"?
Common misspellings include "amcadam", "maacdam", "macaadm", "macadamm", "macaddam". The correct spelling is "macadam".
How do you pronounce "macadam"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "macadam" is \ma.ka.dam\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "macadam" come from?
"macadam" is a French word. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for this and other words across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German on PlainSpell.
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.

Similar French words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "macadam", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked French headwords with 7 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Lucques#47,434Magalie#47,438Lampard#47,419mentors#47,457

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (10 here; floor ≥5).

marcotte10 variantslessives10 variantsmessidor10 variantsnodules10 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list