aéroplane
\a.e.ʁɔ.plan\
The verdict
“aéroplane” is an uncommon French word, ranked #77,259 in French word frequency and used as a noun.
- #77,259
- frequency rank, French
- 9
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Appareil de locomotion aérienne, muni d’une ou de plusieurs hélices qu’actionnent un ou plusieurs moteurs et qui est soutenu par la dépression de l’air sur des surfaces planes.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | aéroplane |
| Language | French |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | \a.e.ʁɔ.plan\ |
| Letters | 9 |
| Frequency rank | #77,259 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “aéroplane” sits in French frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The French entry for aéroplane is 9 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as \a.e.ʁɔ.plan\. Corpus data places it at rank #77,259 in overall French word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 3 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
No misspelling variants are generated for aéroplane in our index, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.
No borrowing history is documented for this entry, so its spelling is easiest explained by how it's pronounced rather than where it came from. The correct French form is aéroplane, spelled A-É-R-O-P-L-A-N-E.
Definition
- 1Appareil de locomotion aérienne, muni d’une ou de plusieurs hélices qu’actionnent un ou plusieurs moteurs et qui est soutenu par la dépression de l’air sur des surfaces planes.
- 2Aérodyne à voilure fixe ; cette notion regroupe les planeurs et les avions par opposition aux aérogires à voilure tournante.
- 3Meuble représentant l’engin du même nom dans les armoiries. Comme l’avion, c’est un meuble récemment entré dans le corpus héraldique. Il n’y a donc pas vraiment de règles concernant sa position ou sa couleur. Toutefois, il est généralement représenté sous la forme d'un biplan vu de dessus et posé en pal, moteur dirigé vers le chef. À rapprocher de avion, ballon et montgolfière.
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); 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
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Using “aéroplane”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct French spelling is A-É-R-O-P-L-A-N-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as \a.e.ʁɔ.plan\ (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.