bitume

\bi.tym\

/\bi.tym\/ noun

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

The verdict

“bitume” has 8 generated spelling variants in the French index at frequency #18,412. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#18,412
frequency rank, French
4,251
“B” headwords
8
tracked misspellings
5
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Matière minérale, inflammable, liquide et jaunâtre, ou solide et noire.

Corpus desk

Index FR-bitume · bitume · French

bitume · rank #18,412 · 8 variants · 5 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #18,412
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-MID 5 pairs
  • VAR-MID 8 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,251
  • PHOTO-FINISH bergers

Nearest frequency peer: bergers (-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 « bitume »

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

corpus weight

What this shows « bitume » 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).

bitume vs brume
67% similar
bitume vs bite
67% similar
bitume vs baume
67% similar

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

Key facts for bitume
PropertyValue
Headwordbitume
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\bi.tym\
Letters6
Frequency rank#18,412
Misspellings tracked8
Confusable pairs5
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Fréquence de l'aimant d'erreurs « bitume »

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

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

L'axe est logarithmique: chaque tic marque environ dix fois moins de fréquence. Dans la même bande de rareté figurent « bergers » (#18,411), « blessant » (#18,413), « beige » (#18,410). Parmi 4,251 lemmes en « B », « bitume » est au #18,412. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 8 spelling variants around bitume (IPA \bi.tym\), anoun. Corpus frequency is #18,412 among 4,251 “B” headwords. Wiktionary lists 3 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 8 likely wrong-spelling variants for bitume, with forms such as "bbitume", "bitmue", and "bittume". 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 5 confusable-pair relationships, "brume", "bite", "baume", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

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 bitume, spelled B-I-T-U-M-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Matière minérale, inflammable, liquide et jaunâtre, ou solide et noire.
  2. 2
    Asphalte, sable mêlé de bitume dont on recouvre les trottoirs, le sol des cours, etc.
  3. 3
    Couleur employée dans la peinture à l’huile, préparée spécialement avec du baume de Judée. #4E3D28

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Le bitume libre qu’on ajoute est évidemment absorbé par celui déjà logé dans les pores du calcaire ; véhiculé par lui, il pénètre jusque dans les plus intimes cavités de l’asphalte, comme une goutte d’huile suit le chemin tracé par une autre goutte ; mais on ne saurait prétendre que le bitume libre apporte avec lui des propriétés nouvelles ; ses fonctions…
  2. À l’inverse, des trafics lourds et lents ainsi que des hautes températures peuvent nécessiter l’emploi de bitumes durs qui rigidifient l’enrobé et diminuent ainsi les problèmes d’orniérage.

This word in other languages

bitumen(English)betún(Español)Bitumen(Deutsch)asfalto(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • bbitume
  • bitmue
  • bittume
  • bituem
  • bitumme
  • biutme
  • btiume
  • ibtume

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

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

bbitume1bitmue2bittume1bituem2bitumme1biutme2btiume2ibtume2
Edit distance from "bitume"

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 "bitume"?
"bitume" is spelled B-I-T-U-M-E. The IPA pronunciation is \bi.tym\.
What does "bitume" mean?
As a noun, "bitume" means: Matière minérale, inflammable, liquide et jaunâtre, ou solide et noire.
What words are commonly confused with "bitume"?
"bitume" is commonly confused with "brume", "bite", "baume". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "bitume"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "bitume" is \bi.tym\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "bitume" come from?
"bitume" 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 "bitume", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked French headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

before#18,409brooks#18,419avoine#18,403butler#18,422

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (8 here; floor ≥5).

bosch8 variantsbourrée8 variantsbrefs8 variantsCathy8 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list