au-delà

\o.də.la\

/\o.də.la\/ adv

The verdict

“au-delà” is uncommon French (outside the top frequency list), classed as an adverb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency French
7
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Plus loin que. Un peu plus loin, de l'autre côté (par rapport à un point, un lieu exprimé), à l'extérieur.

Corpus desk

Index FR-au-dela · au-delà · French

au-delà · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-LONG 7 letters
  • VOW-4 4 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 au-delà
PropertyValue
Headwordau-delà
LanguageFrench
Part of speechAdverb
IPA\o.də.la\
Letters7
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Longue queue: rang de « au-delà » en français

au-delàn'entre pas dans le top 100.000 du français: zone de termes techniques, archaïques ou rares.

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

Rare enough to double-check

au-delà is uncommon French outside the top frequency list, classed as anadverb, transcribed \o.də.la\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

No generated misspelling entries exist for au-delà in our index, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. Our dataset records no confusable match here, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.

Wiktionary doesn't record an etymology for this headword, so its spelling is best explained by sound-to-letter mapping rather than etymology. The correct French form is au-delà, spelled A-U---D-E-L-À.

Definition

  1. 1
    Plus loin que. Un peu plus loin, de l'autre côté (par rapport à un point, un lieu exprimé), à l'extérieur.
  2. 2
    Indique ce qui dépasse un seuil.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Cette supposition n’a rien d’improbable, car les vues ambitieuses des rois francs n’allaient guère au-delà de la perspective d’un gain immédiat et personnel; […].
  2. Hormis quelques scènes isolées, mes premiers souvenirs ne remontent guère au-delà de 1910 et à notre jardin de Sanvic, près du Havre, si grand à mes yeux d'enfant, agrémenté d'une pelouse encadrée de rhododendrons.

Synonyms

Antonyms

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). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "au-delà"?
"au-delà" is spelled A-U---D-E-L-À. The IPA pronunciation is \o.də.la\.
What does "au-delà" mean?
As an adverb, "au-delà" means: Plus loin que. Un peu plus loin, de l'autre côté (par rapport à un point, un lieu exprimé), à l'extérieur.
How do you pronounce "au-delà"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "au-delà" is \o.də.la\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "au-delà" come from?
"au-delà" 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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list