madam

\ˈmæd.əm\

/\ˈmæd.əm\/ noun

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

The verdict

“madam” is uncommon French (frequency #72,516 among 5,038 “M” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#72,516
frequency rank, French
5,038
“M” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Madame. Formule d’appel à une femme, utilisé seul (équivalent féminin de sir) ou avec un titre de fonction (équivalent de Mr. dans ce contexte).

Corpus desk

Index FR-madam · madam · French

madam · rank #72,516 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #72,516
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 5,038
  • PHOTO-FINISH maculaire

Nearest frequency peer: maculaire (-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.

Rangs de longue queue près de « madam »

Bande clairsemée: les barres inversent le rang pour que le rare se lise plus court

corpus weight

What this shows Vue de longue queue: où « madam » se situe face à des rangs français aussi rares.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for madam
PropertyValue
Headwordmadam
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\ˈmæd.əm\
Letters5
Frequency rank#72,516
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Longue queue: rang de « madam » en français

La fréquence va de la poignée de mots du quotidien (gauche) à la longue queue presque jamais vue (droite).madamtombe dans cette queue de rareté:

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

L'axe est logarithmique: chaque tic marque environ dix fois moins de fréquence. Voisins rares de la même bande: « maculaire » (#72,515), « légitimée » (#72,514), « Mahaut » (#72,518). Parmi 5,038 lemmes en « M », « madam » est au #72,516. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

madam is uncommon French at frequency #72,516 among 5,038 “M” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed \ˈmæd.əm\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 4 senses are on record.

Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for madam, a sign its spelling follows regular French conventions. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.

This headword's origin isn't recorded in our source data, so its spelling is best read as a straightforward mapping from sound to letter. The correct French form is madam, spelled M-A-D-A-M.

Definition

  1. 1
    Madame. Formule d’appel à une femme, utilisé seul (équivalent féminin de sir) ou avec un titre de fonction (équivalent de Mr. dans ce contexte).
  2. 2
    Maîtresse de maison.
  3. 3
    Fille vaniteuse ou querelleuse.
  4. 4
    Mère maquerelle.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Excuse me, madam.
  2. The decision was rendered by Madam Justice Wise, with Mr. Justice Fair writing in dissent.

Synonyms

ma’am

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 "madam"?
"madam" is spelled M-A-D-A-M. The IPA pronunciation is \ˈmæd.əm\.
What does "madam" mean?
As a noun, "madam" means: Madame. Formule d’appel à une femme, utilisé seul (équivalent féminin de sir) ou avec un titre de fonction (équivalent de Mr. dans ce contexte).
How do you pronounce "madam"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "madam" is \ˈmæd.əm\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "madam" come from?
"madam" 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.

Similar French words by spelling shape

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

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked French headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

lyric#72,512maron#72,530libra#72,495liard#72,492

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list