take French leave
/ˌteɪk fɹɛnt͡ʃ ˈliːv/
"take-french-leave" is a 15-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“take French leave” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 17
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - To leave quietly and unnoticed, without asking for permission or informing anyone; to slip out.
Corpus desk
Index EN-take-french-leave · take French leave · English
take French leave · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-MEGA 17 letters
- VOW-6 6 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "T" 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 | take French leave |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | /ˌteɪk fɹɛnt͡ʃ ˈliːv/ |
| Letters | 17 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “take French leave” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
take French leave is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as averb, transcribed /ˌteɪk fɹɛnt͡ʃ ˈliːv/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.
No generated misspelling entries exist for take French leave in our index, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.
Etymologically, the entry records: From take + French leave, apparently from a French custom, already recorded in the 18th century, of leaving from receptions or other events without formally announcing one’s departure to the host or hostess. The correct English form is take French leave, spelled T-A-K-E- -F-R-E-N-C-H- -L-E-A-V-E.
Definition
- 1To leave quietly and unnoticed, without asking for permission or informing anyone; to slip out.
- 2To desert or be temporarily absent from duty or service without permission; to go absent without leave (AWOL).
Etymology
From take + French leave, apparently from a French custom, already recorded in the 18th century, of leaving from receptions or other events without formally announcing one’s departure to the host or hostess.
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.
PlainSpell is rendered directly from structured Wiktionary extracts and open word-frequency lists, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of May 6, 2026. Primary sources: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) and FrequencyWords.
Frequently Asked Questions
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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.