à Dieu ne plaise

\a djø nə plɛz\

/\a djø nə plɛz\/ phrase

The verdict

“à Dieu ne plaise” is uncommon French (outside the top frequency list), classed as a phrase. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency French
16
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Pourvu que cela n’advienne pas.

Corpus desk

Index FR-a-dieu-ne-plaise · à Dieu ne plaise · French

à Dieu ne plaise · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-MEGA 16 letters
  • VOW-8 8 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "À" thin
  • PHOTO-UNK Peer pending

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 à Dieu ne plaise
PropertyValue
Headwordà Dieu ne plaise
LanguageFrench
Part of speechPhrase
IPA\a djø nə plɛz\
Letters16
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Longue queue: rang de « à Dieu ne plaise » en français

à Dieu ne plaisereste hors des 100.000 mots français les plus fréquents, dans la longue queue du vocabulaire technique, archaïque ou rare, là où le doute d'orthographe frappe.

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

Rare enough to double-check

à Dieu ne plaise is uncommon French outside the top frequency list, classed as aphrase, transcribed \a djø nə plɛz\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Pourvu que cela n’advienne pas.".

No misspelling variants are generated for à Dieu ne plaise in our index, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.

No borrowing history is documented for this entry, so its spelling is best explained by sound-to-letter mapping rather than etymology. The correct French form is à Dieu ne plaise, spelled À- -D-I-E-U- -N-E- -P-L-A-I-S-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Pourvu que cela n’advienne pas.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Leur donne-t-il l’être comme aux créatures ? À Dieu ne plaise ! il les produit en lui-même de toute éternité, et elles lui sont égales en toutes choses.
  2. À Dieu ne plaise, disoit-il (I. Sam. XXIV. 7), que je commette aucune mauvaise action contre mon Seigneur l’oint de l’Éternel ! Adieu ne plaise que je mette ma main sur lui pour lui faire du mal !

Synonyms

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 "à Dieu ne plaise"?
"à Dieu ne plaise" is spelled À- -D-I-E-U- -N-E- -P-L-A-I-S-E. The IPA pronunciation is \a djø nə plɛz\.
What does "à Dieu ne plaise" mean?
As a phrase, "à Dieu ne plaise" means: Pourvu que cela n’advienne pas.
How do you pronounce "à Dieu ne plaise"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "à Dieu ne plaise" is \a djø nə plɛz\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "à Dieu ne plaise" come from?
"à Dieu ne plaise" is a French word. PlainSpell's reference spans five languages -- English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German -- with definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for each.
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