balle

\bal\

/\bal\/ noun

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

The verdict

“balle” has 5 generated spelling variants in the French index at frequency #2,067. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#2,067
frequency rank, French
4,251
“B” headwords
5
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 2, 2026) - Objet sphérique utilisé pour jouer.

Corpus desk

Index FR-balle · balle · French

balle · rank #2,067 · 5 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #2,067
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 5 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,251
  • PHOTO-FINISH arrivent

Nearest frequency peer: arrivent (-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.

Frequency neighbourhood for “balle”

Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)

corpus weight

What this shows Bars show where “balle” sits against the nearest ranked French headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 2, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

balle vs blé
40% similar
balle vs Base
40% similar
balle vs blue
60% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for balle
PropertyValue
Headwordballe
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\bal\
Letters5
Frequency rank#2,067
Misspellings tracked5
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “balle” sits in French frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). balle lands here:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 5 spelling variants around balle (IPA \bal\), anoun. Corpus frequency is #2,067 among 4,251 “B” headwords. Wiktionary lists 8 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 5 likely wrong-spelling variants for balle, with forms such as "ablle", "bale", and "balel". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "blé", "Base", "blue", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Our source data has no etymology on file for this entry, so spelling patterns must be inferred from the word's phoneme-to-grapheme mapping rather than from a documented borrowing chain. The correct French form is balle, spelled B-A-L-L-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Objet sphérique utilisé pour jouer.
  2. 2
    Conditionnement de matières premières agricoles comme le foin, le coton ou le chanvre.
  3. 3
    Conditionnement quelconque.
  4. 4
    Projectile d’arme à feu.
  5. 5
    (Surtout au pluriel) Franc, euro, centime ou n’importe quelle unité monétaire courante.
  6. 6
    Lancer jugé hors de la zone de prises.
  7. 7
    Objet de jonglage.
  8. 8
    Dans le passé, tampon avec lequel on appliquait l’encre sur les caractères : il était formé d’un manche de bois, évasé en entonnoir, dont le creux était rempli de laine que recouvrait une double peau.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Une balle de tennis.
  2. Être ultra-resserré sans la balle et déployé avec, une stratégie qui permet de combler les lacunes individuelles quand le ballon est perdu.

Synonyms

baballebouleballonbastospruneaudragéeplombballonpiasse

This word in other languages

ball(English)pelota(Español)Ball(Deutsch)bola(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • ablle
  • bale
  • balel
  • bballe
  • blale

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of balle - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.

ablle2bale1balel2bballe1blale2
Edit distance from "balle"

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.

PlainSpell is rendered directly from structured Wiktionary extracts and open word-frequency lists, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of September 2, 2026. Primary sources: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) and FrequencyWords.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "balle"?
"balle" is spelled B-A-L-L-E. The IPA pronunciation is \bal\.
What does "balle" mean?
As a noun, "balle" means: Objet sphérique utilisé pour jouer.
What words are commonly confused with "balle"?
"balle" is commonly confused with "blé", "Base", "blue". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "balle"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "balle" is \bal\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "balle" come from?
"balle" is a French word. PlainSpell covers definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German.
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 "balle", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked French headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

barre#2,068Alain#2,062seine#2,058forêt#2,078

Similar misspelling depth

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

lune5 variantslait5 variantsfaim5 variantsrace5 variants
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