commerce

\kɔ.mɛʁs\

/\kɔ.mɛʁs\/ noun

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

The verdict

“commerce” is in the everyday core of French, ranked #977 in French word frequency and used as a noun.

#977
frequency rank, French
8
letters
10
tracked misspellings
11
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Activité qui consiste à acheter et vendre des marchandises, des denrées, des valeurs, des services, etc., en vue de réaliser un profit.

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

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

commerce vs compère
63% similar
commerce vs commère
75% similar
commerce vs commerces
89% similar

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

Key facts for commerce
PropertyValue
Headwordcommerce
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\kɔ.mɛʁs\
Letters8
Frequency rank#977
Misspellings tracked10
Confusable pairs11
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “commerce” sits in French frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). commerce lands here:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The French entry for commerce is 8 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as \kɔ.mɛʁs\. Corpus data places it at rank #977 in overall French word frequency, putting it firmly in the everyday core of the language. Wiktionary records 6 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our generated misspelling index lists 10 likely wrong-spelling variants for commerce, with forms such as "ccommerce", "cmomerce", and "comemrce". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 11 confusable-pair relationships, "compère", "commère", "commerces", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

This entry carries no recorded etymology, leaving phoneme-to-grapheme mapping as the best guide to its spelling rather than a borrowing history. The correct French form is commerce, spelled C-O-M-M-E-R-C-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Activité qui consiste à acheter et vendre des marchandises, des denrées, des valeurs, des services, etc., en vue de réaliser un profit.
  2. 2
    Objet de transaction.
  3. 3
    Pratique ou intrigue qui n’est pas honnête.
  4. 4
    Ensemble des commerçants et négociants.
  5. 5
    Boutique ou magasin du commerçant.
  6. 6
    Liaisons, rapports ou communications que les personnes ont les unes avec les autres, pour quelque objet que ce soit.

Synonyms

échange

This word in other languages

commerce(English)comercio(Español)Handel(Deutsch)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: ccommerce,cmomerce,comemrce,comerce,commecre,commercce,commerec,commerrce,commrece,ocmmerce

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

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

ccommerce1cmomerce2comemrce2comerce1commecre2commercce1commerec2commerrce1
Edit distance from "commerce"

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 "commerce"?
"commerce" is spelled C-O-M-M-E-R-C-E. The IPA pronunciation is \kɔ.mɛʁs\.
What does "commerce" mean?
As a noun, "commerce" means: Activité qui consiste à acheter et vendre des marchandises, des denrées, des valeurs, des services, etc., en vue de réaliser un profit.
What words are commonly confused with "commerce"?
"commerce" is commonly confused with "compère", "commère", "commerces". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "commerce"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "commerce" is \kɔ.mɛʁs\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "commerce" come from?
"commerce" is a French word. PlainSpell's reference spans five languages -- English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German -- with definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for each.
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.

Using “commerce”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct French spelling is C-O-M-M-E-R-C-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as \kɔ.mɛʁs\ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
  • Don't mix it up with “compère” - see the side-by-side comparison. commerce vs compère
  • 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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list