carton
\kaʁ.tɔ̃\
The verdict
“carton” is a regularly-used French word, ranked #4,215 in French word frequency and used as a noun.
- #4,215
- frequency rank, French
- 6
- letters
- 9
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Papier gros et raide (plus de 224 g au mètre carré), composé parfois de feuilles collées.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | carton |
| Language | French |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | \kaʁ.tɔ̃\ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #4,215 |
| Misspellings tracked | 9 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “carton” sits in French frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The French entry for carton is 6 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as \kaʁ.tɔ̃\. Corpus data places it at rank #4,215 in overall French word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 16 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 9 likely wrong-spelling variants for carton, with forms such as "acrton", "carotn", and "carrton". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "coton", "catin", "caton", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Wiktionary doesn't record an etymology for this headword, so its spelling is best explained by sound-to-letter mapping rather than etymology. The correct French form is carton, spelled C-A-R-T-O-N.
Definition
- 1Papier gros et raide (plus de 224 g au mètre carré), composé parfois de feuilles collées.
- 2Carton-pâte qui sert à la fabrication de divers autres objets.
- 3Boîte ou emballage, le plus souvent fait de ce matériau.
- 4Plaque de carton qui sert de cible dans un tir. → voir faire un carton.
- 5Ébauche, tracé, modèle sur du papier, d’après lesquels le peintre fait sa fresque, ou qu’on donne aux ouvriers en tapisseries pour recopier.
- 6Feuille chantournée qui sert à tracer des profils.
- 7Feuillet d’impression détachés d’une feuille entière.
- 8Feuillet qu’on refait, à cause de quelques fautes qu’on y veut corriger ou de quelque changement qu’on y veut faire.
- 9Succès.
- 10Se dit de quelque chose qui est en projet, en préparation.
- 11Accident.
- 12Forme courte de carton publicitaire.
- 13Carte complémentaire d’une carte principale, figurant sur la même feuille et souvent établie à une échelle différente.
- 14Carte de bristol placée devant chaque couvert d'une table et indiquant les noms des convives.
- 15Se dit de quelqu'un ou de quelque chose de faux, de factice.
- 16Intertitre, texte filmé à l'écran.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: acrton,carotn,carrton,cartno,cartonn,cartton,catron,ccarton,craton
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of carton - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
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 "carton"?
What does "carton" mean?
What words are commonly confused with "carton"?
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Is PlainSpell free to use?
Using “carton”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct French spelling is C-A-R-T-O-N - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as \kaʁ.tɔ̃\ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “coton” - see the side-by-side comparison. carton vs coton
- 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.