au premier abord

\o pʁə.mje.ʁ‿a.bɔʁ\

/\o pʁə.mje.ʁ‿a.bɔʁ\/ adv

The verdict

“au premier abord” 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
16
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Lors du premier contact (avec quelqu’un).

Key facts for au premier abord
PropertyValue
Headwordau premier abord
LanguageFrench
Part of speechAdverb
IPA\o pʁə.mje.ʁ‿a.bɔʁ\
Letters16
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “au premier abord” sits in French frequency

au premier abord 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.

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The French entry for au premier abord is 16 letters long, classified as an adverb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as \o pʁə.mje.ʁ‿a.bɔʁ\. It sits outside the most-frequent rank tiers, which is often why uncommon words generate more spelling variants per reader. Wiktionary records 2 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

au premier abord has no tracked misspelling variants, suggesting the orthography follows predictable French patterns. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.

This headword's origin isn't recorded in our source data, so its spelling is best explained by sound-to-letter mapping rather than etymology. The correct French form is au premier abord, spelled A-U- -P-R-E-M-I-E-R- -A-B-O-R-D.

Definition

  1. 1
    Lors du premier contact (avec quelqu’un).
  2. 2
    Dès le premier instant ; sur le champ ; sans analyse poussée, superficiellement.

Synonyms

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 premier abord"?
"au premier abord" is spelled A-U- -P-R-E-M-I-E-R- -A-B-O-R-D. The IPA pronunciation is \o pʁə.mje.ʁ‿a.bɔʁ\.
What does "au premier abord" mean?
As an adverb, "au premier abord" means: Lors du premier contact (avec quelqu’un).
How do you pronounce "au premier abord"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "au premier abord" is \o pʁə.mje.ʁ‿a.bɔʁ\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "au premier abord" come from?
"au premier abord" 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 premier abord”

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

  • The one correct French spelling is A-U- -P-R-E-M-I-E-R- -A-B-O-R-D - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as \o pʁə.mje.ʁ‿a.bɔʁ\ (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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list