achten

\ˈax.tǝn\

/\ˈax.tǝn\/ verb

The verdict

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

Unranked
below top-frequency French
6
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Faire attention à, veiller sur, prendre garde à (quelqu’un ou quelque chose)

Corpus desk

Index FR-achten · achten · French

achten · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "A" 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 achten
PropertyValue
Headwordachten
LanguageFrench
Part of speechVerb
IPA\ˈax.tǝn\
Letters6
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Longue queue: rang de « achten » en français

achtenreste hors des 100.000 mots français les plus fréquents, dans la longue queue du vocabulaire technique, archaïque ou rare, là où le doute d'orthographe frappe.

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

Rare enough to double-check

achten is uncommon French outside the top frequency list, classed as averb, transcribed \ˈax.tǝn\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for achten, a sign its spelling follows regular French conventions. No confusable counterpart is on file for this word, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.

No explicit etymology string is stored for this entry, leaving phoneme-to-grapheme mapping as the best guide to its spelling rather than a borrowing history. The correct French form is achten, spelled A-C-H-T-E-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    Faire attention à, veiller sur, prendre garde à (quelqu’un ou quelque chose)
  2. 2
    Respecter, estimer (quelqu’un ou quelque chose).

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Um Unfälle zu vermeiden, muss man insbesondere darauf achten, dass diese Chemikalien nicht verschüttet werden können.
  2. Wer auf einen Trockner nicht verzichten kann, sollte laut Stiftung Warentest darauf achten, die Wäsche vor dem Trocknen immer gut zu schleudern, damit der Trockner weniger „Arbeit“ hat.

Synonyms

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 "achten"?
"achten" is spelled A-C-H-T-E-N. The IPA pronunciation is \ˈax.tǝn\.
What does "achten" mean?
As a verb, "achten" means: Faire attention à, veiller sur, prendre garde à (quelqu’un ou quelque chose)
How do you pronounce "achten"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "achten" is \ˈax.tǝn\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "achten" come from?
"achten" is a French word. PlainSpell's reference spans five languages -- English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German -- with definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for each.
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