compass

\ˈkʌm.pəs\

/\ˈkʌm.pəs\/ noun

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

The verdict

“compass” is uncommon French (frequency #70,490 among 8,609 “C” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#70,490
frequency rank, French
8,609
“C” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Boussole.

Corpus desk

Index FR-compass · compass · French

compass · rank #70,490 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #70,490
  • LEN-LONG 7 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 8,609
  • PHOTO-FINISH coment

Nearest frequency peer: coment (-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.

Rangs de longue queue près de « compass »

Bande clairsemée: les barres inversent le rang pour que le rare se lise plus court

corpus weight

What this shows Vue de longue queue: où « compass » se situe face à des rangs français aussi rares.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for compass
PropertyValue
Headwordcompass
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\ˈkʌm.pəs\
Letters7
Frequency rank#70,490
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Longue queue: rang de « compass » en français

La fréquence va de la poignée de mots du quotidien (gauche) à la longue queue presque jamais vue (droite).compasstombe dans cette queue de rareté:

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

L'axe est logarithmique: chaque tic marque environ dix fois moins de fréquence. Voisins rares de la même bande: « coment » (#70,489), « compilateurs » (#70,491), « Combray » (#70,488). Parmi 8,609 lemmes en « C », « compass » est au #70,490. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

compass is uncommon French at frequency #70,490 among 8,609 “C” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed \ˈkʌm.pəs\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 4 senses are on record.

Zero misspellings are on record for compass in our index, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable French rules. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.

No borrowing history is documented for this entry, so its spelling pattern is best understood through pronunciation rather than a traceable origin. The correct French form is compass, spelled C-O-M-P-A-S-S.

Definition

  1. 1
    Boussole.
  2. 2
    Compas.
  3. 3
    Compas.
  4. 4
    Portée, étendue, limite.

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

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

  1. within the compass of the city walls

Synonyms

pair of compasses

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 "compass"?
"compass" is spelled C-O-M-P-A-S-S. The IPA pronunciation is \ˈkʌm.pəs\.
What does "compass" mean?
As a noun, "compass" means: Boussole.
How do you pronounce "compass"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "compass" is \ˈkʌm.pəs\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "compass" come from?
"compass" 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 "compass", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked French headwords with 7 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Combray#70,488collyre#70,485concord#70,496cognant#70,481

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list