à travers

\a tʁa.vɛʁ\

/\a tʁa.vɛʁ\/ prep

The verdict

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

Unranked
below top-frequency French
9
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 2, 2026) - D’un bord à l’autre, en traversant.

Corpus desk

Index FR-a-travers · à travers · French

à travers · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-LONG 9 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 travers
PropertyValue
Headwordà travers
LanguageFrench
Part of speechPreposition
IPA\a tʁa.vɛʁ\
Letters9
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “à travers” sits in French frequency

à travers falls outside the top-100,000 ranked French words, the long-tail zone of technical, archaic, or low-frequency vocabulary, exactly where readers second-guess spellings most.

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

Rare enough to double-check

à travers is uncommon French outside the top frequency list, classed as apreposition, transcribed \a tʁa.vɛʁ\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

à travers doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our 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 easiest explained by how it's pronounced rather than where it came from. The correct French form is à travers, spelled À- -T-R-A-V-E-R-S.

Definition

  1. 1
    D’un bord à l’autre, en traversant.
  2. 2
    S’emploie au figuré avec les verbes voir, découvrir, remarquer et autres semblables.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. À travers un monde bouleversé et chaotique, à travers une civilisation secouée par les derniers tressauts de l’agonie, notre faubourien de Londres retrouva son Edna.
  2. Mais, depuis la bataille de Tolbiac et la conversion de Clovis, l’Église eut ses coudées franches et put rapidement asseoir son influence à travers le territoire.

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.

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 September 2, 2026. Primary sources: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) and FrequencyWords.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "à travers"?
"à travers" is spelled À- -T-R-A-V-E-R-S. The IPA pronunciation is \a tʁa.vɛʁ\.
What does "à travers" mean?
As a preposition, "à travers" means: D’un bord à l’autre, en traversant.
How do you pronounce "à travers"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "à travers" is \a tʁa.vɛʁ\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "à travers" come from?
"à travers" 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.
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.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list