devoir
/dəˈvwɑː/
"devoir" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“devoir” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 6
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Duty, business; something that one must do.
Corpus desk
Index EN-devoir · devoir · English
devoir · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-LONG 6 letters
- VOW-3 3 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "D" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | devoir |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /dəˈvwɑː/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “devoir” in English
Rare enough to double-check
devoir is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed /dəˈvwɑː/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Duty, business; something that one must do.".
Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for devoir, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English devoir, borrowed from Middle French devoir, from Old French deveir, from Latin dēbēre (“to owe; ought, must”). The correct English form is devoir, spelled D-E-V-O-I-R.
Definition
- 1Duty, business; something that one must do.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how devoir appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
[…] he imprint not so much in his schollers mind […] where Marcellus died, as because he was unworthy of his devoire he died there[…].
I should have long ere this paid my devoirs to the inhabitants of Raymond Castle.
Etymology
From Middle English devoir, borrowed from Middle French devoir, from Old French deveir, from Latin dēbēre (“to owe; ought, must”).
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.