borne

\bɔʁn\

/\bɔʁn\/ noun

The verdict

“borne” is a regularly-used French word, ranked #8,814 in French word frequency and used as a noun.

#8,814
frequency rank, French
5
letters
7
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Pierre, arbre ou autre marque qui sert à séparer un champ d’avec un autre.

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

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

borne vs bre
60% similar
borne vs boxe
60% similar
borne vs boue
60% similar

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

Key facts for borne
PropertyValue
Headwordborne
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\bɔʁn\
Letters5
Frequency rank#8,814
Misspellings tracked7
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “borne” 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). borne lands here:

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

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

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The French entry for borne is 5 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as \bɔʁn\. Corpus data places it at rank #8,814 in overall French word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 13 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our generated misspelling index lists 7 likely wrong-spelling variants for borne, with forms such as "bborne", "bonre", and "boren". 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, "bre", "boxe", "boue", 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 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 borne, spelled B-O-R-N-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Pierre, arbre ou autre marque qui sert à séparer un champ d’avec un autre.
  2. 2
    Espèce de colonne qui marquait l’extrémité de la carrière dans les cirques des anciens.
  3. 3
    Colonne qui marque les distances sur les routes, généralement, en kilomètres. On dit surtout dans ce sens « borne kilométrique ».
  4. 4
    Kilomètre.
  5. 5
    Pierres plantées debout qu’on met à côté des portes, le long des murailles, ou à l’encoignure des édifices, pour empêcher qu’ils ne soient endommagés par les voitures, ou dont on borde un chemin, une place publique, un port, etc.
  6. 6
    Pièce métallique souvent isolée sur laquelle se raccorde un conducteur électrique relié à un composant électrique.
  7. 7
    Tout ce qui sépare un État, une province d’un autre.
  8. 8
    Plus petit des majorants (borne supérieure), ou plus grand des minorants (borne inférieure) d’une partie d’un ensemble ordonné (partiellement ou totalement).
  9. 9
    Extrémité, fin de l’étendue, de la durée.
  10. 10
    Limite, au sens moral.
  11. 11
    Carreau en forme de losange ou en hexagone barlong.
  12. 12
    Canapé circulaire avec un dossier au milieu.
  13. 13
    Cheminée dans laquelle on suspend de la viande de porc pour la faire fumer.

Synonyms

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: bborne,bonre,boren,bornne,borrne,brone,obrne

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of borne - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.

bborne1bonre2boren2bornne1borrne1brone2obrne2
Edit distance from "borne"

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 "borne"?
"borne" is spelled B-O-R-N-E. The IPA pronunciation is \bɔʁn\.
What does "borne" mean?
As a noun, "borne" means: Pierre, arbre ou autre marque qui sert à séparer un champ d’avec un autre.
What words are commonly confused with "borne"?
"borne" is commonly confused with "bre", "boxe", "boue". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "borne"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "borne" is \bɔʁn\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "borne" come from?
"borne" is a French word. PlainSpell covers definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German.
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 “borne”

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

  • The one correct French spelling is B-O-R-N-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as \bɔʁn\ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
  • Don't mix it up with “bre” - see the side-by-side comparison. borne vs bre
  • 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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list