à petit feu
\a pə.ti fø\
The verdict
“à petit feu” is uncommon French (outside the top frequency list), classed as an adverb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency French
- 11
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - À feu doux et longuement, en parlant de cuisson.
Corpus desk
Index FR-a-petit-feu · à petit feu · French
à petit feu · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-MEGA 11 letters
- VOW-5 5 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.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | à petit feu |
| Language | French |
| Part of speech | Adverb |
| IPA | \a pə.ti fø\ |
| Letters | 11 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Longue queue: rang de « à petit feu » en français
Rare enough to double-check
à petit feu is uncommon French outside the top frequency list, classed as anadverb, transcribed \a pə.ti fø\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.
The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for à petit feu, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.
No documented word history exists for this headword, leaving phoneme-to-grapheme mapping as the best guide to its spelling rather than a borrowing history. The correct French form is à petit feu, spelled À- -P-E-T-I-T- -F-E-U.
Definition
- 1À feu doux et longuement, en parlant de cuisson.
- 2En faisant durer.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how à petit feu appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Passez au beurre et laissez cuire dans son jus, et à très-petit feu, la rouelle lardée de gros lard ; servez-la ensuite dedans, après l’avoir dégraissée.
C’était éclairé par l’âtre, à petit feu puisque on était encore aux beaux jours, et par la porte ouverte.
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.