beacon

noun

The verdict

“beacon” is uncommon French (frequency #50,668 among 227,490 “B” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#50,668
frequency rank, French
227,490
“B” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Gyrophare.

Key facts for beacon
PropertyValue
Headwordbeacon
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
Letters6
Frequency rank#50,668
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “beacon” 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). beacon lands here:

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

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

Rare enough to double-check

beacon is uncommon French at frequency #50,668 among 227,490 “B” headwords, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 4 senses are on record.

We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for beacon, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.

This headword's origin isn't recorded in our source data, so its spelling is easiest to reason about phoneme by phoneme, absent a documented history. The correct French form is beacon, spelled B-E-A-C-O-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    Gyrophare.
  2. 2
    Balise, fanal, phare.
  3. 3
    Capteur Bluetooth.
  4. 4
    Ce qui indique un danger, ou la voie à suivre.

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 "beacon"?
"beacon" is spelled B-E-A-C-O-N.
What does "beacon" mean?
As a noun, "beacon" means: Gyrophare.
What language does "beacon" come from?
"beacon" 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.

Using “beacon”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct French spelling is B-E-A-C-O-N - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Browse more French words and confusable pairs in the same reference. French words

Other uncommon French words near this rank

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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list