an

\ɑ̃\

/\ɑ̃\/ noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

The verdict

“an” sits in 20 confusable pairs (corpus #363) as a noun. The look-alike neighbours are the real trap.

#363
frequency rank, French
6,727
“A” headwords
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 2, 2026) - Temps que met la Terre à accomplir une révolution autour du Soleil et qui se divise en douze mois. Année (voir Notes plus bas).

Corpus desk

Index FR-an · an · French

an · rank #363 · 0 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-CORE #363
  • LEN-SHORT 2 letters
  • VOW-1 1 vowel
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 6,727
  • PHOTO-FINISH êtes

Nearest frequency peer: êtes (-1 rank slots)

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.

Frequency neighbourhood for “an”

Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)

corpus weight

What this shows Bars show where “an” sits against the nearest ranked French headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 2, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

an vs au
50% similar
an vs As
0% similar
an vs at
50% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for an
PropertyValue
Headwordan
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\ɑ̃\
Letters2
Frequency rank#363
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “an” sits in French frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). an lands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Easy to mix with look-alikes

The spelling risk for an is neighbouring look-alikes ("au", "As", …), not just typos; it is anoun pronounced \ɑ̃\. Frequency #363 among 6,727 “A” headwords. 4 recorded senses keep meaning in play.

No misspelling variants are generated for an in our index, a sign its spelling follows regular French conventions. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "au", "As", "at", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Wiktionary doesn't record an etymology for this headword, so any spelling logic here comes from how the word's sounds map to letters, not a documented origin story. The correct French form is an, spelled A-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    Temps que met la Terre à accomplir une révolution autour du Soleil et qui se divise en douze mois. Année (voir Notes plus bas).
  2. 2
    L'une des années du calendrier républicain des Français, commencée le 22 septembre 1792.
  3. 3
    Le temps qui passe.
  4. 4
    Période de révolution d’une autre planète.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Je ne suis pas arrivé à l’âge de quatre-vingt ans pour rétracter en rien les convictions de ma vie entière.
  2. Autour d’une table, un groupe d’hommes étaient rassemblés, et une femme de trente à trente-cinq ans s’accoudait sur le comptoir.

Synonyms

année

This word in other languages

year(English)año(Español)Jahr(Deutsch)ano(Português)

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.

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 "an"?
"an" is spelled A-N. The IPA pronunciation is \ɑ̃\.
What does "an" mean?
As a noun, "an" means: Temps que met la Terre à accomplir une révolution autour du Soleil et qui se divise en douze mois. Année (voir Notes plus bas).
What words are commonly confused with "an"?
"an" is commonly confused with "au", "As", "at". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "an"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "an" is \ɑ̃\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "an" come from?
"an" 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