devoir
de·voir/dəˈvwɑː/obsolete
devoir is spelled D-E-V-O-I-R: 6 letters and 2 syllables (de·voir). It appears about once in every 17 million words in written English, the 122,704th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, devoir means “Duty, business; something that one must do” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of devoir is devoirs.
How many letters and syllables are in devoir?
| Letters | 6: D-E-V-O-I-R |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2: de·voir |
| In writing | about once in every 17 million words; the 122,704th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is devoir?
Devoir appears about once in every 17 million words in written English, the 122,704th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce devoir?
- /dəˈvwɑː/
Devoir has 2 syllables, split de·voir in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-devoir.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What does devoir mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
archaicDuty, business; something that one must do.
That is the little bit of essential information which enables us to complete our devoir – without it we are just ordinary people, dispossessed, taken unawares: the original sin!
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Where does devoir come from?
From Middle English devoir, borrowed from Middle French devoir, from Old French deveir, from Latin dēbēre (“to owe; ought, must”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).