Why Does "Maine" End with a Silent E?

The final -e in Maine is a Middle English orthographic convention marking the preceding vowel as long.

• Pronunciation: /meɪn/ (rhymes with rain, plane) — the a says its name.
• Without -e: "Main" would be pronounced the same (/meɪn/)—but historically, Maine (the French province) and main (adjective/noun) were distinguished in spelling.
• Etymology: From French Maine (former province), likely from Latin Meduana (river). The -e preserves the French spelling and long vowel signal.

In English, silent terminal -e commonly lengthens the preceding vowel (compare man /mæn/ vs. mane /meɪn/). "Maine" follows this pattern, even though "main" (same sound) does not.