# Mayday in Morse code

**Mayday in Morse code is "-- .- -.-- -.. .- -.--". It is 6 characters made of 6 dots and 11 dashes, and takes about 3.9 seconds to send at 20 words per minute.**

*By Can Türk (https://iamcanturk.dev), MorseForge.*

*Source: https://morse.iamcanturk.dev/words/mayday/*

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## What it means

MAYDAY is a voice distress call, not a Morse one — it comes from the French "m'aidez". It exists because spoken radio needed its own unmistakable word once voice replaced keying. In Morse the equivalent has always been SOS.

## Letter by letter

| Character | Code | Spoken |
| --- | --- | --- |
| M | `--` | dah-dah |
| A | `.-` | di-dah |
| Y | `-.--` | dah-di-dah-dah |
| D | `-..` | dah-di-dit |
| A | `.-` | di-dah |
| Y | `-.--` | dah-di-dah-dah |

A space separates letters and a slash separates words.

## Frequently asked questions

### What is Mayday in Morse code?

Mayday in Morse code is "-- .- -.-- -.. .- -.--". MAYDAY is a voice distress call, not a Morse one — it comes from the French "m'aidez". It exists because spoken radio needed its own unmistakable word once voice replaced keying. In Morse the equivalent has always been SOS.

### How long does it take to send Mayday in Morse code?

At 20 words per minute, Mayday takes about 3.9 seconds to send. That counts its 6 dots and 11 dashes plus the silences between them, timed by the PARIS standard, in which one unit, the length of a dot, is 60 milliseconds at that speed.

## Related words: Emergency

- [SOS](https://morse.iamcanturk.dev/words/sos/)
- [Help](https://morse.iamcanturk.dev/words/help/)

## More

- [Every word in Morse code](https://morse.iamcanturk.dev/words/)
- [The Morse code alphabet](https://morse.iamcanturk.dev/morse-code-alphabet/)
- [Translate your own text](https://morse.iamcanturk.dev/morse-code-translator/)