maine

adj

The verdict

“maine” is a regularly-used French word, ranked #8,880 in French word frequency and used as an adjective.

#8,880
frequency rank, French
5
letters
4
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Grand.

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

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

maine vs min
60% similar
maine vs man
60% similar
maine vs mie
60% similar

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

Key facts for maine
PropertyValue
Headwordmaine
LanguageFrench
Part of speechAdjective
Letters5
Frequency rank#8,880
Misspellings tracked4
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “maine” 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). maine 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 maine is 5 letters long, classified as an adjective. Corpus data places it at rank #8,880 in overall French word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "Grand.".

Our generated misspelling index lists 4 likely wrong-spelling variants for maine, with forms such as "maien", "mainne", and "miane". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "min", "man", "mie", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Wiktionary doesn't record an etymology for this headword, so its spelling is easiest explained by how it's pronounced rather than where it came from. The correct French form is maine, spelled M-A-I-N-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Grand.

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: maien,mainne,miane,mmaine

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of maine - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.

maien2mainne1miane2mmaine1
Edit distance from "maine"

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 "maine"?
"maine" is spelled M-A-I-N-E.
What does "maine" mean?
As an adjective, "maine" means: Grand.
What words are commonly confused with "maine"?
"maine" is commonly confused with "min", "man", "mie". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
What language does "maine" come from?
"maine" 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 “maine”

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

  • The one correct French spelling is M-A-I-N-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Don't mix it up with “min” - see the side-by-side comparison. maine vs min
  • 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