canard
/kəˈnɑɹd/
"canard" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“canard” is an uncommon English word, ranked #57,276 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #57,276
- frequency rank, English
- 6
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A false or misleading report or story, especially if deliberately so.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | canard |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /kəˈnɑɹd/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #57,276 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “canard” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for canard is 6 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /kəˈnɑɹd/. Corpus data places it at rank #57,276 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 4 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
canard has no tracked misspelling variants, a sign its spelling follows regular English conventions. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.
Etymologically, the entry records: Borrowed from French canard (“duck, hoax”). etymology note The primary English meaning of canard comes from the Medieval French expression “vendre un canard à moitié”, which literally means “to sell half a duck” or “to half-sell a duck”. This was perhaps th… The correct English form is canard, spelled C-A-N-A-R-D.
Definition
- 1A false or misleading report or story, especially if deliberately so.
- 2A type of aircraft in which the primary horizontal control and stabilization surfaces are in front of the main wing.
- 3A horizontal control and stabilization surface located in front of the main wing of an aircraft.
- 4Any small winglike structure on a vehicle, usually used for stabilization.
Etymology
Borrowed from French canard (“duck, hoax”). etymology note The primary English meaning of canard comes from the Medieval French expression “vendre un canard à moitié”, which literally means “to sell half a duck” or “to half-sell a duck”. This was perhaps the punch line to a joke. Eventually the punch line came to stand for the joke and then finally the word alone stood for the whole concept. The story may perhaps have gone like this: A duck seller is successful and content as the only duck seller on a street, selling his ducks for eight francs each. A new duck seller moves in across the street who steals all the business by offering his ducks for seven francs each. Then a price war ensues, back and forth, until the new duck seller is down to three francs for a duck. The original duck seller is beside himself with worry and frustration, but finally he puts up a big sign that says, “Two francs” and then in small print at the bottom “for half a duck.” In this way, to half-sell ducks may have come to mean tricking people with something that is literally true but misleading. It has this same metaphorical meaning in French. Now in English, it simply means anything that is deliberately misleading, a hoax.
Synonyms
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); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Using “canard”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is C-A-N-A-R-D - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /kəˈnɑɹd/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English 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.