au pied de la lettre
\o pje də la lɛtʁ\
The verdict
“au pied de la lettre” is outside the top-ranked French vocabulary, used as an adverb - the kind of word writers most often double-check.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency French
- 20
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - En suivant le sens strict des mots, sans essayer de le remettre en question ni en tenter une interprétation figurée, métaphorique ou diluée.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | au pied de la lettre |
| Language | French |
| Part of speech | Adverb |
| IPA | \o pje də la lɛtʁ\ |
| Letters | 20 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “au pied de la lettre” sits in French frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The French entry for au pied de la lettre is 20 letters long, classified as an adverb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as \o pje də la lɛtʁ\. It sits outside the most-frequent rank tiers, which is often why uncommon words generate more spelling variants per reader. Wiktionary records 3 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
No generated misspelling entries exist for au pied de la lettre in our index, a sign its spelling follows regular French conventions. Our dataset records no confusable match here, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.
This entry's etymology isn't recorded, so its spelling is best read as a straightforward mapping from sound to letter. The correct French form is au pied de la lettre, spelled A-U- -P-I-E-D- -D-E- -L-A- -L-E-T-T-R-E.
Definition
- 1En suivant le sens strict des mots, sans essayer de le remettre en question ni en tenter une interprétation figurée, métaphorique ou diluée.
- 2À proprement parler, à parler véritablement, sans aucune exagération.
- 3Très scrupuleusement.
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 pied de la lettre"?
What does "au pied de la lettre" mean?
How do you pronounce "au pied de la lettre"?
What language does "au pied de la lettre" come from?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Using “au pied de la lettre”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct French spelling is A-U- -P-I-E-D- -D-E- -L-A- -L-E-T-T-R-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as \o pje də la lɛtʁ\ (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.