ancêtres

\ɑ̃.sɛtʁ\

/\ɑ̃.sɛtʁ\/ noun

The verdict

“ancêtres” has 13 generated spelling variants in the French index at frequency #5,832. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#5,832
frequency rank, French
6,727
“A” headwords
13
tracked misspellings
2
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Ascendants qui sont plus éloignés que les grands-parents.

Corpus desk

Index FR-ancetres · ancêtres · French

ancêtres · rank #5,832 · 13 variants · 2 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #5,832
  • LEN-LONG 8 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-LOW 2 pairs
  • VAR-HIGH 13 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 6,727
  • PHOTO-FINISH alarme

Nearest frequency peer: alarme (-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.

Pairs de rang près de l'aimant d'erreurs « ancêtres »

Même bande de rareté: utile si une faute tombe sur un lemme voisin

corpus weight

What this shows « ancêtres » siège parmi ces pairs FrequencyWords; la profondeur des fautes est suivie à part dans le graphique d'édition.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

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

ancêtres vs ancrés
63% similar
ancêtres vs ancêtre
88% similar

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

Key facts for ancêtres
PropertyValue
Headwordancêtres
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\ɑ̃.sɛtʁ\
Letters8
Frequency rank#5,832
Misspellings tracked13
Confusable pairs2
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Fréquence de l'aimant d'erreurs « ancêtres »

Cette échelle va du noyau du français courant (gauche) jusqu'à la traîne des formes rares (droite).ancêtresse place ici:

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

L'échelle est logarithmique (chaque tic ≈ 10× plus rare). Dans la même bande de rareté figurent « alarme » (#5,831), « Angers » (#5,833), « adoptée » (#5,830). Parmi 6,727 lemmes en « A », « ancêtres » est au #5,832. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 13 spelling variants around ancêtres (IPA \ɑ̃.sɛtʁ\), anoun. Corpus frequency is #5,832 among 6,727 “A” headwords. Wiktionary lists 2 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 13 likely wrong-spelling variants for ancêtres, with forms such as "acnêtres", "anccêtres", and "ancetres". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 2 confusable-pair relationships, "ancrés", "ancêtre", a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

This headword's origin isn't recorded in our source data, so its spelling is best read as a straightforward mapping from sound to letter. The correct French form is ancêtres, spelled A-N-C-Ê-T-R-E-S.

Definition

  1. 1
    Ascendants qui sont plus éloignés que les grands-parents.
  2. 2
    D'une manière générale, ceux qui nous ont précédé dans une même lignée, une même culture.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Et ce sont ces moribonds nationaux et religieux qui ont entrepris, aux Etats-Unis, d’anglosaxonniser les races et poursuivent la réalisation d’une puissance composite qui n’aurait plus qu’une idole: le dollar, qu’un idéal: l’oubli des ancêtres!
  2. Lucy est l'un des ancêtres de l'homme moderne.

Synonyms

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • acnêtres
  • anccêtres
  • ancetres
  • anctêres
  • ancêrtes
  • ancêters
  • ancêtress
  • ancêtrres
  • ancêtrse
  • ancêttres
  • anncêtres
  • anêctres
  • nacêtres

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of ancêtres - 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.

acnêtres2anccêtres1ancetres1anctêres2ancêrtes2ancêters2ancêtress1ancêtrres1
Edit distance from "ancêtres"

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 "ancêtres"?
"ancêtres" is spelled A-N-C-Ê-T-R-E-S. The IPA pronunciation is \ɑ̃.sɛtʁ\.
What does "ancêtres" mean?
As a noun, "ancêtres" means: Ascendants qui sont plus éloignés que les grands-parents.
What words are commonly confused with "ancêtres"?
"ancêtres" is commonly confused with "ancrés", "ancêtre". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "ancêtres"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "ancêtres" is \ɑ̃.sɛtʁ\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "ancêtres" come from?
"ancêtres" is a French word. PlainSpell covers definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German.
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.

Similar French words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "ancêtres", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked French headwords with 8 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (13 here; floor ≥5).

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list