mainland

\meɪn.lənd\

/\meɪn.lənd\/ noun

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

The verdict

“mainland” is uncommon French (frequency #96,096 among 202,672 “M” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#96,096
frequency rank, French
202,672
“M” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Continent (par opposition à une île).

Key facts for mainland
PropertyValue
Headwordmainland
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\meɪn.lənd\
Letters8
Frequency rank#96,096
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “mainland” 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). mainland lands here:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

mainland is uncommon French at frequency #96,096 among 202,672 “M” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed \meɪn.lənd\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Continent (par opposition à une île).".

Zero misspellings are on record for mainland in our index, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.

This entry's etymology isn't recorded, 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 mainland, spelled M-A-I-N-L-A-N-D.

Definition

  1. 1
    Continent (par opposition à une île).

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 "mainland"?
"mainland" is spelled M-A-I-N-L-A-N-D. The IPA pronunciation is \meɪn.lənd\.
What does "mainland" mean?
As a noun, "mainland" means: Continent (par opposition à une île).
How do you pronounce "mainland"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "mainland" is \meɪn.lənd\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "mainland" come from?
"mainland" 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.

Using “mainland”

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

  • The one correct French spelling is M-A-I-N-L-A-N-D - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as \meɪn.lənd\ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
  • Browse more French words and confusable pairs in the same reference. French words

Other uncommon French words near this rank

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