major

\ma.ʒɔʁ\

/\ma.ʒɔʁ\/ noun

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

The verdict

“major” is a regularly-used French word, ranked #3,340 in French word frequency and used as a noun.

#3,340
frequency rank, French
5
letters
7
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Grade le plus élevé des sous-officiers, situé entre son supérieur hiérarchique, l’aspirant, et son subordonné, l’adjudant-chef (armée de terre, armée de l’air, gendarmerie nationale) ou le maître p...

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

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

major vs mar
60% similar
major vs malo
60% similar
major vs mayo
60% similar

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

Key facts for major
PropertyValue
Headwordmajor
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\ma.ʒɔʁ\
Letters5
Frequency rank#3,340
Misspellings tracked7
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “major” 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). major 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 major is 5 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as \ma.ʒɔʁ\. Corpus data places it at rank #3,340 in overall French word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 7 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our generated misspelling index lists 7 likely wrong-spelling variants for major, with forms such as "amjor", "majjor", and "majorr". 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, "mar", "malo", "mayo", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

This headword's origin isn't recorded in our source data, so its spelling is best explained by sound-to-letter mapping rather than etymology. The correct French form is major, spelled M-A-J-O-R.

Definition

  1. 1
    Grade le plus élevé des sous-officiers, situé entre son supérieur hiérarchique, l’aspirant, et son subordonné, l’adjudant-chef (armée de terre, armée de l’air, gendarmerie nationale) ou le maître principal (Marine nationale). Le code OTAN : OR-9.
  2. 2
    Officier chargé de diriger et surveiller l’administration et la comptabilité de son unité, la constitution et la conservation de ses archives.
  3. 3
    Commandant (Officier du grade supérieur au capitaine).
  4. 4
    Médecin militaire.
  5. 5
    Premier d’une promotion.
  6. 6
    Variante de mayor.
  7. 7
    Grade d’officier des Forces armées canadiennes, au-dessus du capitaine et au-dessous du lieutenant-colonel. Le code OTAN : OF-3.

This word in other languages

major(English)Oberstabsfeldwebel(Deutsch)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: amjor,majjor,majorr,majro,maojr,mjaor,mmajor

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of major - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.

amjor2majjor1majorr1majro2maojr2mjaor2mmajor1
Edit distance from "major"

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 "major"?
"major" is spelled M-A-J-O-R. The IPA pronunciation is \ma.ʒɔʁ\.
What does "major" mean?
As a noun, "major" means: Grade le plus élevé des sous-officiers, situé entre son supérieur hiérarchique, l’aspirant, et son subordonné, l’adjudant-chef (armée de terre, armée de l’air, gendarmerie nationale) ou le maître p...
What words are commonly confused with "major"?
"major" is commonly confused with "mar", "malo", "mayo". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "major"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "major" is \ma.ʒɔʁ\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "major" come from?
"major" 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 “major”

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

  • The one correct French spelling is M-A-J-O-R - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as \ma.ʒɔʁ\ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
  • Don't mix it up with “mar” - see the side-by-side comparison. major vs mar
  • 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