French letter
"french-letter" is a 12-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“French letter” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 13
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A condom.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | French letter |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| Letters | 13 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “French letter” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
French letter is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "A condom.".
The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for French letter, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.
Etymologically, the entry records: From French + letter. Compare earlier French pox, French-sick (“syphilis”), or later French safe, French tickler (“condom”), or French kiss. Attested from the 19th century. The correct English form is French letter, spelled F-R-E-N-C-H- -L-E-T-T-E-R.
Definition
- 1A condom.
Etymology
From French + letter. Compare earlier French pox, French-sick (“syphilis”), or later French safe, French tickler (“condom”), or French kiss. Attested from the 19th century.
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
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Using “French letter”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is F-R-E-N-C-H- -L-E-T-T-E-R - 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.