bave

\bav\

/\bav\/ noun

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

The verdict

“bave” has 5 generated spelling variants in the French index at frequency #20,934. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#20,934
frequency rank, French
4,251
“B” headwords
5
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Salive épaisse et visqueuse qui découle de la bouche.

Corpus desk

Index FR-bave · bave · French

bave · rank #20,934 · 5 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #20,934
  • LEN-MID 4 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 5 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,251
  • PHOTO-FINISH basile

Nearest frequency peer: basile (-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 « bave »

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

corpus weight

What this shows « bave » 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

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

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

bave vs be
50% similar
bave vs BV
0% similar
bave vs blé
25% similar

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

Key facts for bave
PropertyValue
Headwordbave
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\bav\
Letters4
Frequency rank#20,934
Misspellings tracked5
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Fréquence de l'aimant d'erreurs « bave »

Cette échelle va du noyau du français courant (gauche) jusqu'à la traîne des formes rares (droite).bavese 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 « basile » (#20,933), « Bernardo » (#20,935), « bibliques » (#20,936). Parmi 4,251 lemmes en « B », « bave » est au #20,934. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 5 spelling variants around bave (IPA \bav\), anoun. Corpus frequency is #20,934 among 4,251 “B” headwords. Wiktionary lists 6 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 5 likely wrong-spelling variants for bave, with forms such as "abve", "baev", and "bavve". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "be", "BV", "blé", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Our source data has no etymology on file for this entry, so any spelling logic here comes from how the word's sounds map to letters, not a documented origin story. The correct French form is bave, spelled B-A-V-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Salive épaisse et visqueuse qui découle de la bouche.
  2. 2
    Sorte d’écume qui s’échappe de la gueule de certains animaux.
  3. 3
    Premiers fils qui servent d’enveloppe au cocon du ver à soie.
  4. 4
    Liqueur gluante que jettent certains gastéropodes et qui leur sert à glisser sur les corps à la surface desquels ils rampent.
  5. 5
    Écume qui sort de la bouche de l’homme dans certaines maladies (rage, épilepsie, etc.).
  6. 6
    Conséquence ou produit immonde ou dégoûtant de quelque chose.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Il y a toujours bien des limites à gérer les infrastructures du Québec au doigt, à la bave et au vent, version moderne du duplessisme.
  2. Essuyer la bave d’un petit enfant.

This word in other languages

drool(English)baba(Español)Speichel(Deutsch)saliva(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • abve
  • baev
  • bavve
  • bbave
  • bvae

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

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

abve2baev2bavve1bbave1bvae2
Edit distance from "bave"

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 "bave"?
"bave" is spelled B-A-V-E. The IPA pronunciation is \bav\.
What does "bave" mean?
As a noun, "bave" means: Salive épaisse et visqueuse qui découle de la bouche.
What words are commonly confused with "bave"?
"bave" is commonly confused with "be", "BV", "blé". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "bave"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "bave" is \bav\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "bave" come from?
"bave" is a French word. PlainSpell's reference spans five languages -- English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German -- with definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for each.
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 "bave", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked French headwords with 4 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

buck#20,943chap#20,951ADSL#20,909clay#20,959

Similar misspelling depth

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

étui5 variantstulle5 variantsposa5 variantskeep5 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list