avant-corps
\a.vɑ̃.kɔʁ\
The verdict
“avant-corps” is uncommon French (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency French
- 11
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Tout ce qui excède le nu de l’architecture d'un ouvrage.
Corpus desk
Index FR-avant-corps · avant-corps · French
avant-corps · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-MEGA 11 letters
- VOW-3 3 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.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | avant-corps |
| Language | French |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | \a.vɑ̃.kɔʁ\ |
| Letters | 11 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Longue queue: rang de « avant-corps » en français
Rare enough to double-check
avant-corps is uncommon French outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed \a.vɑ̃.kɔʁ\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.
Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for avant-corps, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.
This entry's etymology isn't recorded, so its spelling pattern is best understood through pronunciation rather than a traceable origin. The correct French form is avant-corps, spelled A-V-A-N-T---C-O-R-P-S.
Definition
- 1Tout ce qui excède le nu de l’architecture d'un ouvrage.
- 2Corps de maçonnerie qui est en saillie sur la face d’un bâtiment.
- 3(Mécanique des fluides) La partie d'un corps qui est devant son maître-couple, par opposition à l'arrière-corps. La séparation d'un corps se fait aussi parfois en avant-corps, corps médian et arrière-corps.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how avant-corps appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Sur le parc, la façade se distingue de celle sur la cour par un avant-corps de cinq croisées à colonnes au-dessus duquel se voit un magnifique fronton.
Marly, avec ses pilastres, ses architraves, ses avant-corps, fut décoré extérieurement à fresque avec des sculptures imitées et des rondes bosses factices.
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.