Gévaudan

name

"gevaudan" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“Gévaudan” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a proper noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency English
8
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A former county and historical area in southern France succeeded by the department of Lozère.

Corpus desk

Index EN-gevaudan · Gévaudan · English

Gévaudan · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-LONG 8 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "G" 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.

Key facts for Gévaudan
PropertyValue
HeadwordGévaudan
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechProper noun
Letters8
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “Gévaudan” in English

Gévaudansits beyond the 100,000 most-frequent English words, in the long tail of technical, archaic, or otherwise rare vocabulary where spelling doubt tends to strike hardest.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

Gévaudan is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as aproper noun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "A former county and historical area in southern France succeeded by the department of Lozère.".

We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for Gévaudan, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.

Etymologically, the entry records: Borrowed from French Gévaudan, from Occitan Gavaudan or Gevaudan, from Latin Gabalitanus, from Gabali, ultimately from Gaulish *Gabli. The correct English form is Gévaudan, spelled G-É-V-A-U-D-A-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    A former county and historical area in southern France succeeded by the department of Lozère.

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

These source excerpts show how Gévaudan appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. With a physical description that defied belief, and the ability to strike quickly, evade detection, and confound its pursuers, the mysterious beast had attacked and killed dozens of people in and around the remote mountainous region of the Gévaudan in the southern province of Languedoc.

Etymology

Borrowed from French Gévaudan, from Occitan Gavaudan or Gevaudan, from Latin Gabalitanus, from Gabali, ultimately from Gaulish *Gabli.

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 "Gévaudan"?
"Gévaudan" is spelled G-É-V-A-U-D-A-N.
What does "Gévaudan" mean?
As a proper noun, "Gévaudan" means: A former county and historical area in southern France succeeded by the department of Lozère.
What is the origin of the word "Gévaudan"?
Borrowed from French Gévaudan, from Occitan Gavaudan or Gevaudan, from Latin Gabalitanus, from Gabali, ultimately from Gaulish *Gabli. See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list