maître

\mɛtʁ\

/\mɛtʁ\/ noun

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

The verdict

“maître” has 9 generated spelling variants in the French index at frequency #946. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#946
frequency rank, French
202,672
“M” headwords
9
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Personne qui exerce son autorité.

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

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

maître vs mare
67% similar
maître vs mate
67% similar
maître vs mètre
67% similar

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

Key facts for maître
PropertyValue
Headwordmaître
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\mɛtʁ\
Letters6
Frequency rank#946
Misspellings tracked9
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “maître” 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). maître lands here:

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

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

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 9 spelling variants around maître (IPA \mɛtʁ\), anoun. Corpus frequency is #946 among 202,672 “M” headwords. Wiktionary lists 15 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 9 likely wrong-spelling variants for maître, with forms such as "amître", "maitre", and "matîre". 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, "mare", "mate", "mètre", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

Wiktionary doesn't record an etymology for this headword, so any spelling logic here comes from how the word's sounds map to letters, not a documented origin story. The correct French form is maître, spelled M-A-Î-T-R-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Personne qui exerce son autorité.
  2. 2
    Ce qui exerce sa domination.
  3. 3
    Maître d’école ; enseignant dans une école primaire.
  4. 4
    Propriétaire ; patron.
  5. 5
    Propriétaire d’un animal domestique.
  6. 6
    Propriétaire d’un esclave.
  7. 7
    Celui qui prend le rôle de soumettre un partenaire, lequel accepte celui d’être soumis.
  8. 8
    Éducateur.
  9. 9
    Personne qui domine un art.
  10. 10
    Titre des personnes revêtues de certaines charges.
  11. 11
    Titre qu’on donne à un avocat, à un notaire ou à un huissier de justice en France, en Belgique et au Canada.
  12. 12
    Titre de quelqu’un qui est titulaire d’une maîtrise en France.
  13. 13
    Grade donné à un sous-officier dans la Marine nationale française, situé entre son supérieur hiérarchique, le premier maître, et son subordonné, le second maître. Ce grade correspond à celui de sergent-chef dans l’armée de terre française. Les codes OTAN sont OR-7 et OR-6.
  14. 14
    Ancien compagnon ayant atteint le troisième et dernier degré.
  15. 15
    Élément depuis lequel on synchronise, par opposition à l’esclave.

This word in other languages

leader(English)amo(Español)Herr(Deutsch)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • amître
  • maitre
  • matîre
  • maîrte
  • maîter
  • maîtrre
  • maîttre
  • mmaître
  • mîatre

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of maître - 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.

amître2maitre1matîre2maîrte2maîter2maîtrre1maîttre1mmaître1
Edit distance from "maître"

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 "maître"?
"maître" is spelled M-A-Î-T-R-E. The IPA pronunciation is \mɛtʁ\.
What does "maître" mean?
As a noun, "maître" means: Personne qui exerce son autorité.
What words are commonly confused with "maître"?
"maître" is commonly confused with "mare", "mate", "mètre". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "maître"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "maître" is \mɛtʁ\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "maître" come from?
"maître" 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 “maître”

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

  • The one correct French spelling is M-A-Î-T-R-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as \mɛtʁ\ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
  • Don't mix it up with “mare” - see the side-by-side comparison. maître vs mare
  • Browse more French words and confusable pairs in the same reference. French words

Same frequency band

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