ayatollah

\a.ja.tɔ.la\

/\a.ja.tɔ.la\/ noun

The verdict

“ayatollah” has 11 generated spelling variants in the French index at frequency #39,169. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#39,169
frequency rank, French
6,727
“A” headwords
11
tracked misspellings

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Un des titres les plus élevés décerné à un membre du clergé chiite.

Corpus desk

Index FR-ayatollah · ayatollah · French

ayatollah · rank #39,169 · 11 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #39,169
  • LEN-LONG 9 letters
  • VOW-5 5 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-MID 11 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 6,727
  • PHOTO-FINISH avoit

Nearest frequency peer: avoit (-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 « ayatollah »

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

corpus weight

What this shows « ayatollah » 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 ayatollah
PropertyValue
Headwordayatollah
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\a.ja.tɔ.la\
Letters9
Frequency rank#39,169
Misspellings tracked11
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Fréquence de l'aimant d'erreurs « ayatollah »

Cette échelle va du noyau du français courant (gauche) jusqu'à la traîne des formes rares (droite).ayatollahse place ici:

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

Les tics avancent en logarithme; chacun est de l'ordre de dix fois plus rare. Dans la même bande de rareté figurent « avoit » (#39,168), « aven » (#39,167), « bandés » (#39,171). Parmi 6,727 lemmes en « A », « ayatollah » est au #39,169. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 11 spelling variants around ayatollah (IPA \a.ja.tɔ.la\), anoun. Corpus frequency is #39,169 among 6,727 “A” headwords. Wiktionary lists 2 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 11 likely wrong-spelling variants for ayatollah, with forms such as "aaytollah", "ayaotllah", and "ayatlolah". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.

No borrowing history is documented 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 ayatollah, spelled A-Y-A-T-O-L-L-A-H.

Definition

  1. 1
    Un des titres les plus élevés décerné à un membre du clergé chiite.
  2. 2
    Personne particulièrement intransigeante sur un sujet précis.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Sentant les États-Unis affabilis par leur différend avec l’ayatollah Khomeiny, elle décide de franchir la ligne rouge et pousser ses pions dans un pays neutre : l’Afgahnistan.
  2. Découvrir que dans l’Iran contemporain, existent plusieurs femmes ayatollah a suscité en moi une très grande curiosité.

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • aaytollah
  • ayaotllah
  • ayatlolah
  • ayatolah
  • ayatolalh
  • ayatollahh
  • ayatollha
  • ayattollah
  • aytaollah
  • ayyatollah
  • yaatollah

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of ayatollah - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.

aaytollah2ayaotllah2ayatlolah2ayatolah1ayatolalh2ayatollahh1ayatollha2ayattollah1
Edit distance from "ayatollah"

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 "ayatollah"?
"ayatollah" is spelled A-Y-A-T-O-L-L-A-H. The IPA pronunciation is \a.ja.tɔ.la\.
What does "ayatollah" mean?
As a noun, "ayatollah" means: Un des titres les plus élevés décerné à un membre du clergé chiite.
What are common misspellings of "ayatollah"?
Common misspellings include "aaytollah", "ayaotllah", "ayatlolah", "ayatolah", "ayatolalh". The correct spelling is "ayatollah".
How do you pronounce "ayatollah"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "ayatollah" is \a.ja.tɔ.la\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "ayatollah" come from?
"ayatollah" 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 "ayatollah", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

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

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (11 here; floor ≥5).

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list