chaton

\ʃa.tɔ̃\

/\ʃa.tɔ̃\/ noun

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

The verdict

“chaton” has 9 generated spelling variants in the French index at frequency #14,880. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#14,880
frequency rank, French
8,609
“C” headwords
9
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Jeune chat, mâle ou femelle, qui n’a pas encore atteint l’âge adulte. Pour une femelle on peut plus particulièrement parler de chatonne.

Corpus desk

Index FR-chaton · chaton · French

chaton · rank #14,880 · 9 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #14,880
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 9 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 8,609
  • PHOTO-FINISH cartouche

Nearest frequency peer: cartouche (-1 rank slots)

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.

Pairs de rang près de l'aimant d'erreurs « chaton »

Même bande de rareté: utile si une faute tombe sur un lemme voisin

corpus weight

What this shows « chaton » siège parmi ces pairs FrequencyWords; la profondeur des fautes est suivie à part dans le graphique d'édition.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

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

chaton vs chats
67% similar
chaton vs coton
67% similar
chaton vs chatte
67% similar

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

Key facts for chaton
PropertyValue
Headwordchaton
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\ʃa.tɔ̃\
Letters6
Frequency rank#14,880
Misspellings tracked9
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Fréquence de l'aimant d'erreurs « chaton »

La fréquence va de la poignée de mots du quotidien (gauche) à la longue queue presque jamais vue (droite).chatonse place ici:

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

L'échelle est logarithmique (chaque tic ≈ 10× plus rare). Dans la même bande de rareté figurent « cartouche » (#14,879), « claquer » (#14,881), « cartel » (#14,878). Parmi 8,609 lemmes en « C », « chaton » est au #14,880. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 9 spelling variants around chaton (IPA \ʃa.tɔ̃\), anoun. Corpus frequency is #14,880 among 8,609 “C” headwords. Wiktionary lists 6 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 9 likely wrong-spelling variants for chaton, with forms such as "cahton", "cchaton", and "chaotn". 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, "chats", "coton", "chatte", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

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 chaton, spelled C-H-A-T-O-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    Jeune chat, mâle ou femelle, qui n’a pas encore atteint l’âge adulte. Pour une femelle on peut plus particulièrement parler de chatonne.
  2. 2
    Chéri, chérie.
  3. 3
    Inflorescence en épi, à fleurs peu apparentes et unisexuées, pendante ressemblant à la queue d’un chat, caractéristique de nombreux arbres (saule, noyer, coudrier, chêne…).
  4. 4
    Saule décoloré, petit saule aux chatons doux originaire d’Amérique du Nord et de nom scientifique Salix discolor.
  5. 5
    Partie supérieure d'un joyau, en particulier une bague, qui peut accueillir un pierre ou une gemme sertie.
  6. 6
    Petit amas de poussière, de fibres, qui se forme sous un meuble.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how chaton appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Un petit chat entra, circonspect et naïf, un ordinaire et irrésistible chaton de quatre à cinq mois.
  2. Même constat, localement, dans le refuge de Concarneau (29), qui « a été confronté à de nombreux abandons de chatons, cet été », indique Gwénaëlle Lider, présidente de la SPA de Cornouaille, sans préciser de chiffres.

Synonyms

minetminouiulesaule discoloresaule décoloréminoutête de bague

This word in other languages

kitty(English)gatito(Español)Kätzchen(Deutsch)gatinho(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • cahton
  • cchaton
  • chaotn
  • chatno
  • chatonn
  • chatton
  • chhaton
  • chtaon
  • hcaton

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of chaton - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.

cahton2cchaton1chaotn2chatno2chatonn1chatton1chhaton1chtaon2
Edit distance from "chaton"

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 "chaton"?
"chaton" is spelled C-H-A-T-O-N. The IPA pronunciation is \ʃa.tɔ̃\.
What does "chaton" mean?
As a noun, "chaton" means: Jeune chat, mâle ou femelle, qui n’a pas encore atteint l’âge adulte. Pour une femelle on peut plus particulièrement parler de chatonne.
What words are commonly confused with "chaton"?
"chaton" is commonly confused with "chats", "coton", "chatte". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "chaton"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "chaton" is \ʃa.tɔ̃\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "chaton" come from?
"chaton" 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.

Similar French words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "chaton", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked French headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

cartel#14,878capote#14,875coquin#14,892Bernie#14,863

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (9 here; floor ≥5).

billard9 variantscurtis9 variantsannexion9 variantsenclos9 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list