autrefois

\o.tʁə.fwa\

/\o.tʁə.fwa\/ adv

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

The verdict

“autrefois” has 12 generated spelling variants in the French index at frequency #3,660. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#3,660
frequency rank, French
6,727
“A” headwords
12
tracked misspellings

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Anciennement ; jadis ; au temps passé.

Corpus desk

Index FR-autrefois · autrefois · French

autrefois · rank #3,660 · 12 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #3,660
  • LEN-LONG 9 letters
  • VOW-5 5 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-MID 12 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 6,727
  • PHOTO-FINISH apparence

Nearest frequency peer: apparence (-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 « autrefois »

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

corpus weight

What this shows « autrefois » 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
Key facts for autrefois
PropertyValue
Headwordautrefois
LanguageFrench
Part of speechAdverb
IPA\o.tʁə.fwa\
Letters9
Frequency rank#3,660
Misspellings tracked12
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Fréquence de l'aimant d'erreurs « autrefois »

De gauche à droite: le peu qui porte la parole quotidienne, puis la longue queue quasi invisible.autrefoisse place ici:

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

L'axe est logarithmique: chaque tic marque environ dix fois moins de fréquence. Dans la même bande de rareté figurent « apparence » (#3,659), « annuel » (#3,658), « bob » (#3,662). Parmi 6,727 lemmes en « A », « autrefois » est au #3,660. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 12 spelling variants around autrefois (IPA \o.tʁə.fwa\), anadverb. Corpus frequency is #3,660 among 6,727 “A” headwords. Dominant gloss: "Anciennement ; jadis ; au temps passé.".

Our generated misspelling index lists 12 likely wrong-spelling variants for autrefois, with forms such as "aturefois", "aurtefois", and "auterfois". 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. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.

No explicit etymology string is stored for this entry, so its spelling is easiest explained by how it's pronounced rather than where it came from. The correct French form is autrefois, spelled A-U-T-R-E-F-O-I-S.

Definition

  1. 1
    Anciennement ; jadis ; au temps passé.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. L’Inde autrefois nous donna l’anémone, De nos jardins ornement printanier.
  2. Mais tout cela était si loin et l’homme qu’il était devenu ressemblait si peu au jeune officier d’autrefois…

Synonyms

anciennementantandans le tempsjadis

This word in other languages

previously(English)antaño(Español)früher(Deutsch)antigamente(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • aturefois
  • aurtefois
  • auterfois
  • autreffois
  • autrefios
  • autrefoiss
  • autrefosi
  • autreofis
  • autrfeois
  • autrrefois
  • auttrefois
  • uatrefois

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of autrefois - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.

aturefois2aurtefois2auterfois2autreffois1autrefios2autrefoiss1autrefosi2autreofis2
Edit distance from "autrefois"

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 "autrefois"?
"autrefois" is spelled A-U-T-R-E-F-O-I-S. The IPA pronunciation is \o.tʁə.fwa\.
What does "autrefois" mean?
As an adverb, "autrefois" means: Anciennement ; jadis ; au temps passé.
What are common misspellings of "autrefois"?
Common misspellings include "aturefois", "aurtefois", "auterfois", "autreffois", "autrefios". The correct spelling is "autrefois".
How do you pronounce "autrefois"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "autrefois" is \o.tʁə.fwa\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "autrefois" come from?
"autrefois" 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.

Similar French words by spelling shape

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

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked French headwords with 9 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

apparence#3,659voyageurs#3,652doucement#3,673poursuite#3,634

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (12 here; floor ≥5).

bénéfice12 variantscherché12 variantsémotions12 variantsregistre12 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list