c’est-à-dire

\s‿ɛ.t‿a diʁ\

/\s‿ɛ.t‿a diʁ\/ conj

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

The verdict

“c’est-à-dire” is uncommon French (outside the top frequency list), classed as a conjunction. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency French
12
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 2, 2026) - Autrement dit, plus précisément dit, plus clairement dit.

Corpus desk

Index FR-c-est-a-dire · c’est-à-dire · French

c’est-à-dire · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-MEGA 12 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "C" thin
  • PHOTO-UNK Peer pending

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.

Key facts for c’est-à-dire
PropertyValue
Headwordc’est-à-dire
LanguageFrench
Part of speechConjunction
IPA\s‿ɛ.t‿a diʁ\
Letters12
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “c’est-à-dire” sits in French frequency

c’est-à-dire 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

c’est-à-dire is uncommon French outside the top frequency list, classed as aconjunction, transcribed \s‿ɛ.t‿a diʁ\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.

c’est-à-dire has no tracked misspelling variants, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.

This entry's etymology isn't recorded, so its spelling is best explained by sound-to-letter mapping rather than etymology. The correct French form is c’est-à-dire, spelled C-’-E-S-T---À---D-I-R-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Autrement dit, plus précisément dit, plus clairement dit.
  2. 2
    Ça signifie.
  3. 3
    Qu’est-ce que ça veut dire ? [Demande de précision ou de reformulation pour éclairer].

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how c’est-à-dire appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Le mordançage doit se faire à froid, c’est-à-dire à la température de 18° à 20° centigrades, quand on a des foulards à fond blanc ou à fond de couleur claire à fabriquer.
  2. Vous savez bien ce qu’on appelle un dada, c’est-à-dire une idée fixe qui vous revient toujours en tête, et qui vous mène quelquefois plus loin que vous ne voudriez aller.

Synonyms

à savoirautrement diten d’autres termesi.e.je veux parler de

This word in other languages

that is(English)o sea(Español)das heißt(Deutsch)isto é(Português)

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.

PlainSpell is rendered directly from structured Wiktionary extracts and open word-frequency lists, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of September 2, 2026. Primary sources: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) and FrequencyWords.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "c’est-à-dire"?
"c’est-à-dire" is spelled C-’-E-S-T---À---D-I-R-E. The IPA pronunciation is \s‿ɛ.t‿a diʁ\.
What does "c’est-à-dire" mean?
As a conjunction, "c’est-à-dire" means: Autrement dit, plus précisément dit, plus clairement dit.
How do you pronounce "c’est-à-dire"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "c’est-à-dire" is \s‿ɛ.t‿a diʁ\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "c’est-à-dire" come from?
"c’est-à-dire" 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.
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