banal

\ba.nal\

/\ba.nal\/ adj

The verdict

“banal” has 7 generated spelling variants in the French index at frequency #9,962. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#9,962
frequency rank, French
4,251
“B” headwords
7
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Qui appartient à un seigneur, et dont les paysans se servent en échange d’une redevance.

Corpus desk

Index FR-banal · banal · French

banal · rank #9,962 · 7 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #9,962
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 7 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,251
  • PHOTO-FINISH ayons

Nearest frequency peer: ayons (-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 “banal”

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

corpus weight

What this shows Bars show where “banal” 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 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

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

banal vs banc
60% similar
banal vs Bank
40% similar
banal vs bang
60% similar

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

Key facts for banal
PropertyValue
Headwordbanal
LanguageFrench
Part of speechAdjective
IPA\ba.nal\
Letters5
Frequency rank#9,962
Misspellings tracked7
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Où “banal” se place dans la fréquence du français

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

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

L'échelle est logarithmique (chaque tic ≈ 10× plus rare). Dans la même bande de rareté figurent « ayons » (#9,961), « Bobby » (#9,963), « audiences » (#9,960). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 7 spelling variants around banal (IPA \ba.nal\), anadjective. Corpus frequency is #9,962 among 4,251 “B” headwords. Wiktionary lists 2 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 7 likely wrong-spelling variants for banal, with forms such as "abnal", "baanl", and "banall". 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, "banc", "Bank", "bang", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

No borrowing history is documented for this entry, so its spelling is best read as a straightforward mapping from sound to letter. The correct French form is banal, spelled B-A-N-A-L.

Definition

  1. 1
    Qui appartient à un seigneur, et dont les paysans se servent en échange d’une redevance.
  2. 2
    Commun, en parlant de biens dont le public a la jouissance.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Près de l'Adhuy, le moulin banal se reflétait dans l'étang des Templiers. Dans les terres défoncées, les vilains allaient extraire le minerai de fer, puis cultiver l'avoine et le froment, et livrer la dîme au décimateur.
  2. En juillet 1701, Henri Roguenet, hôtelier, et son fils Jean, boulanger, prennent à bail l'un des deux fours banaux de Ouarville. Outre un loyer annuel de 200 livres, ils fourniront au seigneur, à Noël, une douzaine de chapons, […]. Ils devront faire moudre tous leurs blés aux moulins banaux de la châtellenie ou à celui de Réclainville, à la charge toutefo…

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • abnal
  • baanl
  • banall
  • banla
  • bannal
  • bbanal
  • bnaal

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of banal - 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.

abnal2baanl2banall1banla2bannal1bbanal1bnaal2
Edit distance from "banal"

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 "banal"?
"banal" is spelled B-A-N-A-L. The IPA pronunciation is \ba.nal\.
What does "banal" mean?
As an adjective, "banal" means: Qui appartient à un seigneur, et dont les paysans se servent en échange d’une redevance.
What words are commonly confused with "banal"?
"banal" is commonly confused with "banc", "Bank", "bang". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "banal"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "banal" is \ba.nal\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "banal" come from?
"banal" 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 "banal", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

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

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (7 here; floor ≥5).

What to do next

You've looked up "banal". Here's where to go from here.

  • "banal" maps to 20 confusable pairs in this vintage; the highest-scored is "banc". View pair
  • 7 edit-distance misspelling variants are generated for spell-check research on this headword. See variants
  • Usage frequency rank #9,962 among French headwords in this corpus. Corpus statistics
  • Browse more French words in the "B" letter cohort. B–Z browse

PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.

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