basse
\bɑs\
The verdict
“basse” is a regularly-used French word, ranked #2,162 in French word frequency and used as a noun.
- #2,162
- frequency rank, French
- 5
- letters
- 3
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Ligne mélodique qui contient les notes les plus graves.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | basse |
| Language | French |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | \bɑs\ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #2,162 |
| Misspellings tracked | 3 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “basse” sits in French frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The French entry for basse is 5 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as \bɑs\. Corpus data places it at rank #2,162 in overall French word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 11 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 3 likely wrong-spelling variants for basse, with forms such as "absse", "bbasse", and "bsase". 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, "boss", "bats", "bave", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.
No borrowing history is documented for this entry, leaving phoneme-to-grapheme mapping as the best guide to its spelling rather than a borrowing history. The correct French form is basse, spelled B-A-S-S-E.
Definition
- 1Ligne mélodique qui contient les notes les plus graves.
- 2Note la plus grave d'un accord.
- 3Voix propre à chanter la partie de basse.
- 4Personne qui a une voix de basse.
- 5Violoncelle, nommé basse, parce qu’il joue le plus souvent la basse dans les symphonies et les quatuors ou trios. Ou autre instrument, comme un cuivre, qui sert à exécuter la basse dans les morceaux à plusieurs parties.
- 6Personne qui joue de cet instrument.
- 7Dans un orchestre de jazz, ellipse fréquemment utilisée pour nommer la contrebasse.
- 8Abréviation de guitare basse.
- 9Grosses cordes de certains instruments.
- 10Banc de rochers ou de corail dangereux pour la navigation car situé proche de la surface de la mer sans pour autant affleurer.
- 11Vallée, surtout perpendiculaire à une vallée principale.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: absse,bbasse,bsase
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of basse - 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.
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 "basse"?
What does "basse" mean?
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Is PlainSpell free to use?
Using “basse”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct French spelling is B-A-S-S-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as \bɑs\ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “boss” - see the side-by-side comparison. basse vs boss
- Browse more French words and confusable pairs in the same reference. French words
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.