maison close
\mɛ.zɔ̃ kloz\
The verdict
“maison close” is uncommon French (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency French
- 12
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Établissement où se pratique la prostitution.
Corpus desk
Index FR-maison-close · maison close · French
maison close · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-MEGA 12 letters
- VOW-5 5 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "M" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
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.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | maison close |
| Language | French |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | \mɛ.zɔ̃ kloz\ |
| Letters | 12 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Longue queue: rang de « maison close » en français
Rare enough to double-check
maison close is uncommon French outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed \mɛ.zɔ̃ kloz\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Établissement où se pratique la prostitution.".
We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for maison close, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.
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 maison close, spelled M-A-I-S-O-N- -C-L-O-S-E.
Definition
- 1Établissement où se pratique la prostitution.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how maison close appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Cet homme, c’est le grand, l’unique Pelletier, ancien tenancier de maisons closes, ancien organisateur de partouzes, ancien marchand de viande […]
Gabriel ne pouvait s’empêcher de songer à l’histoire du puritain, désolé de loger en face d’une maison close et qui, pour la mettre en faillite, avait dressé son perroquet à crier dès qu’en approchait un chaland furtif : « Il y va, l’vilain ! Il y va ! »
This word in other languages
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.