boite aux lettres

\bwa.t‿o lɛtʁ\

/\bwa.t‿o lɛtʁ\/ noun

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

The verdict

“boite aux lettres” is uncommon French (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency French
17
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Coffret où le public met les lettres que la poste se charge de faire parvenir à leur adresse.

Key facts for boite aux lettres
PropertyValue
Headwordboite aux lettres
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\bwa.t‿o lɛtʁ\
Letters17
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “boite aux lettres” sits in French frequency

boite aux lettres falls outside the top-100,000 ranked French words, the long-tail zone of technical, archaic, or low-frequency vocabulary, exactly where readers second-guess spellings most.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

boite aux lettres is uncommon French outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed \bwa.t‿o lɛtʁ\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 6 senses are on record.

boite aux lettres has no tracked misspelling variants, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.

This entry carries no recorded etymology, so spelling patterns must be inferred from the word's phoneme-to-grapheme mapping rather than from a documented borrowing chain. The correct French form is boite aux lettres, spelled B-O-I-T-E- -A-U-X- -L-E-T-T-R-E-S.

Definition

  1. 1
    Coffret où le public met les lettres que la poste se charge de faire parvenir à leur adresse.
  2. 2
    Boite où le facteur dépose le courrier d’un individu.
  3. 3
    Dans une messagerie électronique, espace de mémoire réservé à quelqu'un, dans lequel sont conservés les messages qui lui sont destinés et éventuellement les messages qu'il envoie.
  4. 4
    Fissure très large offrant un passage étroit entre les deux cotés d’une roche.
  5. 5
    Ancrage.
  6. 6
    Système d’échange d'information entre un service de renseignement et un agent basé sur la transmission d'un message par un tiers (boite aux lettres vivante) ou le dépôt du message dans un emplacement pré-déterminé (boite aux lettres morte) en vue d'une récupération.

Synonyms

boîte à malle

This word in other languages

mailbox(English)buzón(Español)Briefkasten(Deutsch)

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "boite aux lettres"?
"boite aux lettres" is spelled B-O-I-T-E- -A-U-X- -L-E-T-T-R-E-S. The IPA pronunciation is \bwa.t‿o lɛtʁ\.
What does "boite aux lettres" mean?
As a noun, "boite aux lettres" means: Coffret où le public met les lettres que la poste se charge de faire parvenir à leur adresse.
How do you pronounce "boite aux lettres"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "boite aux lettres" is \bwa.t‿o lɛtʁ\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "boite aux lettres" come from?
"boite aux lettres" 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.

Using “boite aux lettres”

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

  • The one correct French spelling is B-O-I-T-E- -A-U-X- -L-E-T-T-R-E-S - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as \bwa.t‿o lɛtʁ\ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
  • 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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list