cf.
\kɔ̃.fɛʁ\
The verdict
“cf.” is uncommon French (outside the top frequency list), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency French
- 3
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Se reporter à, voir [une page, une partie d’un ouvrage].
Corpus desk
Index FR-cf · cf. · French
cf. · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-MID 3 letters
- VOW-0 0 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.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | cf. |
| Language | French |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | \kɔ̃.fɛʁ\ |
| Letters | 3 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Longue queue: rang de « cf. » en français
Rare enough to double-check
cf. is uncommon French outside the top frequency list, classed as averb, transcribed \kɔ̃.fɛʁ\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.
No generated misspelling entries exist for cf. in our index, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.
This entry's etymology isn't recorded, so its spelling pattern is best understood through pronunciation rather than a traceable origin. The correct French form is cf., spelled C-F-..
Definition
- 1Se reporter à, voir [une page, une partie d’un ouvrage].
- 2Apporte une réserve à l'application du nom scientifique, sans faire partie du nom du taxon.
Recorded use
Wiktionary exampleThese source excerpts show how cf. appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Une équipe de recherche de l’Institut Sophia Agrobiotech d’INRAE obtient l’autorisation d’introduction dans l’environnement de Ganaspis cf. brasiliensis G1, une guêpe parasitoïde exotique, afin de lutter contre Drosophila suzukii, une mouche redoutable qui s’attaque aux fruits.
This word in other languages
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.