French disease
"french-disease" is a 13-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“French disease” is outside the top-ranked English vocabulary, used as a noun - the kind of word writers most often double-check.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 14
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Syphilis.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | French disease |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| Letters | 14 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “French disease” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for French disease is 14 letters long, classified as a noun. It sits outside the most-frequent rank tiers, which is often why uncommon words generate more spelling variants per reader. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "Syphilis.".
Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for French disease, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.
Etymologically, the entry records: So called because it was spread by returning French troops in mediaeval times. The correct English form is French disease, spelled F-R-E-N-C-H- -D-I-S-E-A-S-E.
Definition
- 1Syphilis.
Etymology
So called because it was spread by returning French troops in mediaeval times.
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). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you spell "French disease"?
What does "French disease" mean?
What is the origin of the word "French disease"?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Using “French disease”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is F-R-E-N-C-H- -D-I-S-E-A-S-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- 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.