au fur et à mesure

\o fy.ʁ‿e a m(ə).zyʁ\

/\o fy.ʁ‿e a m(ə).zyʁ\/ adv

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

The verdict

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

Unranked
below top-frequency French
18
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Progressivement ; à proportion

Key facts for au fur et à mesure
PropertyValue
Headwordau fur et à mesure
LanguageFrench
Part of speechAdverb
IPA\o fy.ʁ‿e a m(ə).zyʁ\
Letters18
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “au fur et à mesure” sits in French frequency

au fur et à mesure falls outside the top-100,000 ranked French words, the long-tail zone of technical, archaic, or low-frequency vocabulary, exactly where readers second-guess spellings most.

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

Rare enough to double-check

au fur et à mesure is uncommon French outside the top frequency list, classed as anadverb, transcribed \o fy.ʁ‿e a m(ə).zyʁ\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Progressivement ; à proportion".

au fur et à mesure has no tracked misspelling variants, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.

This entry's etymology isn't recorded, leaving phoneme-to-grapheme mapping as the best guide to its spelling rather than a borrowing history. The correct French form is au fur et à mesure, spelled A-U- -F-U-R- -E-T- -À- -M-E-S-U-R-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Progressivement ; à proportion

Synonyms

au fil de l’eaufait à faitpetit à petitpeu à peuprogressivement

This word in other languages

as and when(English)nach und nach(Deutsch)

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 fur et à mesure"?
"au fur et à mesure" is spelled A-U- -F-U-R- -E-T- -À- -M-E-S-U-R-E. The IPA pronunciation is \o fy.ʁ‿e a m(ə).zyʁ\.
What does "au fur et à mesure" mean?
As an adverb, "au fur et à mesure" means: Progressivement ; à proportion
How do you pronounce "au fur et à mesure"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "au fur et à mesure" is \o fy.ʁ‿e a m(ə).zyʁ\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "au fur et à mesure" come from?
"au fur et à mesure" 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.

Using “au fur et à mesure”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct French spelling is A-U- -F-U-R- -E-T- -À- -M-E-S-U-R-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as \o fy.ʁ‿e a m(ə).zyʁ\ (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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list