macron

\ma.kʁɔ̃\

/\ma.kʁɔ̃\/ noun

The verdict

“macron” is a regularly-used French word, ranked #1,141 in French word frequency and used as a noun.

#1,141
frequency rank, French
6
letters
9
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Diacritique de l’alphabet latin, grec ou cyrillique, qui prend la forme d’une barre horizontale (‹ ◌̄ ›) que l’on place au-dessus d’une lettre pour indiquer une abbréviation, une qualité phonétique...

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

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

macron vs Maroc
50% similar
macron vs micro
67% similar
macron vs marin
67% similar

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

Key facts for macron
PropertyValue
Headwordmacron
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\ma.kʁɔ̃\
Letters6
Frequency rank#1,141
Misspellings tracked9
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “macron” 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). macron 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 macron is 6 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as \ma.kʁɔ̃\. Corpus data places it at rank #1,141 in overall French word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "Diacritique de l’alphabet latin, grec ou cyrillique, qui prend la forme d’une barre horizontale (‹ ◌̄ ›) que l’on place au-dessus d’une lettre pour indiquer une abbréviation, une qualité phonétique...".

Our generated misspelling index lists 9 likely wrong-spelling variants for macron, with forms such as "amcron", "maccron", and "macorn". 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 also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "Maroc", "micro", "marin", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

Our source data has no etymology on file for this entry, so spelling patterns must be inferred from the word's phoneme-to-grapheme mapping rather than from a documented borrowing chain. The correct French form is macron, spelled M-A-C-R-O-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    Diacritique de l’alphabet latin, grec ou cyrillique, qui prend la forme d’une barre horizontale (‹ ◌̄ ›) que l’on place au-dessus d’une lettre pour indiquer une abbréviation, une qualité phonétique ou un ton distinct ; par exemple dans certaines transcriptions au-dessus d’une lettre de voyelle pour indiquer qu’elle est longue comme ā, ē, ī, ō, ū et ȳ, dans la transcription pinyin de la langue chinoise indiquant le ton plat, ou premier ton comme ā, ē, ī, ō, ū et ǖ.

Synonyms

Antonyms

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: amcron,maccron,macorn,macrno,macronn,macrron,marcon,mcaron,mmacron

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of macron - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.

amcron2maccron1macorn2macrno2macronn1macrron1marcon2mcaron2
Edit distance from "macron"

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 "macron"?
"macron" is spelled M-A-C-R-O-N. The IPA pronunciation is \ma.kʁɔ̃\.
What does "macron" mean?
As a noun, "macron" means: Diacritique de l’alphabet latin, grec ou cyrillique, qui prend la forme d’une barre horizontale (‹ ◌̄ ›) que l’on place au-dessus d’une lettre pour indiquer une abbréviation, une qualité phonétique...
What words are commonly confused with "macron"?
"macron" is commonly confused with "Maroc", "micro", "marin". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "macron"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "macron" is \ma.kʁɔ̃\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "macron" come from?
"macron" is a French word. PlainSpell covers definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German.
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 “macron”

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

  • The one correct French spelling is M-A-C-R-O-N - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as \ma.kʁɔ̃\ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
  • Don't mix it up with “Maroc” - see the side-by-side comparison. macron vs Maroc
  • 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