abstinence
\ap.sti.nɑ̃s\
The verdict
“abstinence” is a moderately-common French word, ranked #24,834 in French word frequency and used as a noun.
- #24,834
- frequency rank, French
- 10
- letters
- 15
- tracked misspellings
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Action de s’abstenir.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | abstinence |
| Language | French |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | \ap.sti.nɑ̃s\ |
| Letters | 10 |
| Frequency rank | #24,834 |
| Misspellings tracked | 15 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “abstinence” sits in French frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The French entry for abstinence is 10 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as \ap.sti.nɑ̃s\. Corpus data places it at rank #24,834 in overall French word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 5 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 15 likely wrong-spelling variants for abstinence, with forms such as "abbstinence", "absitnence", and "absstinence". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. Our dataset records no confusable match here, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.
Our source data has no etymology on file for this entry, so its spelling is easiest to reason about phoneme by phoneme, absent a documented history. The correct French form is abstinence, spelled A-B-S-T-I-N-E-N-C-E.
Definition
- 1Action de s’abstenir.
- 2Action de s'abstenir du boire et du manger.
- 3Abstention de relations sexuelles.
- 4Privations ordonnées par l’Église.
- 5Privation de viande recommandée par l’Église catholique les vendredis durant le Carême.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: abbstinence,absitnence,absstinence,abstiennce,abstinecne,abstinencce,abstinenec,abstinennce,abstinnece,abstinnence,abstnience,absttinence,abtsinence,asbtinence,bastinence
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of abstinence - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 French corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you spell "abstinence"?
What does "abstinence" mean?
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Using “abstinence”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct French spelling is A-B-S-T-I-N-E-N-C-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as \ap.sti.nɑ̃s\ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Browse more French words and confusable pairs in the same reference. French words
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.