chemin de fer
\ʃə.mɛ̃ də fɛʁ\
The verdict
“chemin de fer” is uncommon French (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency French
- 13
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Mode de transport guidé dans lequel des convois, les trains, de véhicules, les wagons, circulent sur des voies ferrées constituées de deux files de rails d’acier reposant sur des traverses.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | chemin de fer |
| Language | French |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | \ʃə.mɛ̃ də fɛʁ\ |
| Letters | 13 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “chemin de fer” sits in French frequency
Rare enough to double-check
chemin de fer is uncommon French outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed \ʃə.mɛ̃ də fɛʁ\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 5 senses are on record.
We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for chemin de fer, suggesting the orthography follows predictable French patterns. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.
No borrowing history is documented for this entry, so its spelling is easiest to reason about phoneme by phoneme, absent a documented history. The correct French form is chemin de fer, spelled C-H-E-M-I-N- -D-E- -F-E-R.
Definition
- 1Mode de transport guidé dans lequel des convois, les trains, de véhicules, les wagons, circulent sur des voies ferrées constituées de deux files de rails d’acier reposant sur des traverses.
- 2Outil de taille de la pierre, servant à aplanir une face.
- 3Sorte de jeu de cartes, semblable au baccara, qui se joue dans les casinos.
- 4Répartition d’un ouvrage page par page.
- 5Répartition des rubriques et des sujets dans un journal.
Synonyms
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.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Using “chemin de fer”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct French spelling is C-H-E-M-I-N- -D-E- -F-E-R - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as \ʃə.mɛ̃ də fɛʁ\ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- 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.