à quatre pattes
\a katʁ pat\
The verdict
“à quatre pattes” is uncommon French (outside the top frequency list), classed as an adverb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency French
- 15
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - À l’aide de leurs quatre pattes, en parlant de marcher chez des animaux quadrupèdes.
Corpus desk
Index FR-a-quatre-pattes · à quatre pattes · French
à quatre pattes · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-MEGA 15 letters
- VOW-6 6 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 quatre pattes |
| Language | French |
| Part of speech | Adverb |
| IPA | \a katʁ pat\ |
| Letters | 15 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Longue queue: rang de « à quatre pattes » en français
Rare enough to double-check
à quatre pattes is uncommon French outside the top frequency list, classed as anadverb, transcribed \a katʁ pat\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.
à quatre pattes has no tracked misspelling variants, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. 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.
This entry's etymology isn't recorded, so its spelling is best explained by sound-to-letter mapping rather than etymology. The correct French form is à quatre pattes, spelled À- -Q-U-A-T-R-E- -P-A-T-T-E-S.
Definition
- 1À l’aide de leurs quatre pattes, en parlant de marcher chez des animaux quadrupèdes.
- 2Sur les genoux et les mains, au sol, en parlant de se déplacer chez des humains.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how à quatre pattes appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Tous les autres mammifères terrestres marchent à quatre pattes, avançant à la fois un des membres de devant et le membre de derrière du côté opposé. L’éléphant, l’hippopotame, le chameau, la girafe et plusieurs antilopes font exception ; ils avancent à la fois les deux jambes du même côté […].
Au cours de ses lectures, pourtant, quelques aristocrates avaient trouvé grâce devant lui : Du Guesclin, Bayard, La Tour d’Auvergne, le chevalier d’Assas, et surtout Henri IV, parce qu’il galopait à quatre pattes pour amuser ses petits-enfants.
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.