behaviour

\bɪˈheɪ.vjə\

/\bɪˈheɪ.vjə\/ noun

The verdict

“behaviour” is uncommon French (frequency #82,720 among 4,251 “B” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#82,720
frequency rank, French
4,251
“B” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Tenue (façon de se tenir), comportement, procédé.

Corpus desk

Index FR-behaviour · behaviour · French

behaviour · rank #82,720 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #82,720
  • LEN-LONG 9 letters
  • VOW-5 5 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,251
  • PHOTO-FINISH Belair

Nearest frequency peer: Belair (+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.

Rangs de longue queue près de « behaviour »

Bande clairsemée: les barres inversent le rang pour que le rare se lise plus court

corpus weight

What this shows Vue de longue queue: où « behaviour » se situe face à des rangs français aussi rares.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for behaviour
PropertyValue
Headwordbehaviour
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\bɪˈheɪ.vjə\
Letters9
Frequency rank#82,720
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Longue queue: rang de « behaviour » en français

La fréquence va de la poignée de mots du quotidien (gauche) à la longue queue presque jamais vue (droite).behaviourtombe dans cette queue de rareté:

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

Les tics avancent en logarithme; chacun est de l'ordre de dix fois plus rare. Voisins rares de la même bande: « Belair » (#82,721), « belettes » (#82,722), « Bellefeuille » (#82,723). Parmi 4,251 lemmes en « B », « behaviour » est au #82,720. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

behaviour is uncommon French at frequency #82,720 among 4,251 “B” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed \bɪˈheɪ.vjə\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Tenue (façon de se tenir), comportement, procédé.".

No misspelling variants are generated for behaviour in our index, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.

Wiktionary doesn't record an etymology for this headword, so its spelling is easiest explained by how it's pronounced rather than where it came from. The correct French form is behaviour, spelled B-E-H-A-V-I-O-U-R.

Definition

  1. 1
    Tenue (façon de se tenir), comportement, procédé.

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

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

  1. The behaviour of individuals and companies is a key factor contributing to a safe road-transport environment, as they choose the form of mobility and the safety features of vehicles, and are responsible for how they behave in traffic.

Synonyms

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 "behaviour"?
"behaviour" is spelled B-E-H-A-V-I-O-U-R. The IPA pronunciation is \bɪˈheɪ.vjə\.
What does "behaviour" mean?
As a noun, "behaviour" means: Tenue (façon de se tenir), comportement, procédé.
How do you pronounce "behaviour"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "behaviour" is \bɪˈheɪ.vjə\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "behaviour" come from?
"behaviour" 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 "behaviour", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked French headwords with 9 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list