à perte

\a pɛʁt\

/\a pɛʁt\/ adv

The verdict

“à perte” is uncommon French (outside the top frequency list), classed as an adverb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency French
7
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - En faisant une perte.

Corpus desk

Index FR-a-perte · à perte · French

à perte · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-LONG 7 letters
  • VOW-3 3 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 perte
PropertyValue
Headwordà perte
LanguageFrench
Part of speechAdverb
IPA\a pɛʁt\
Letters7
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Longue queue: rang de « à perte » en français

à perten'entre pas dans le top 100.000 du français: zone de termes techniques, archaïques ou rares.

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

Rare enough to double-check

à perte is uncommon French outside the top frequency list, classed as anadverb, transcribed \a pɛʁt\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "En faisant une perte.".

Zero misspellings are on record for à perte in our index, suggesting the orthography follows predictable French patterns. Our dataset records no confusable match here, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.

This headword's origin isn't recorded in our source data, leaving phoneme-to-grapheme mapping as the best guide to its spelling rather than a borrowing history. The correct French form is à perte, spelled À- -P-E-R-T-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    En faisant une perte.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. En Assyrie, en Égypte, l’intermédiarat existait, et, aussi, le prêt avec intérêt. Les paysans, manquant de blé, empruntaient des lingots d’or ou d’argent pour s’en procurer ; puis, quand il leur fallait rendre ces lingots, ils vendaient la récolte à perte, naturellement, à des trusteurs qui devinrent peu à peu maîtres du marché.
  2. La vente à perte est interdite en France, sauf pendant les soldes.

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 perte"?
"à perte" is spelled À- -P-E-R-T-E. The IPA pronunciation is \a pɛʁt\.
What does "à perte" mean?
As an adverb, "à perte" means: En faisant une perte.
How do you pronounce "à perte"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "à perte" is \a pɛʁt\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "à perte" come from?
"à perte" is a French word. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for this and other words across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German on PlainSpell.
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