conte

\kɔ̃t\

/\kɔ̃t\/ noun

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

The verdict

“conte” has 7 generated spelling variants in the French index at frequency #4,741. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#4,741
frequency rank, French
8,609
“C” headwords
7
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Récit d’aventures imaginaires, soit qu’elles aient de la vraisemblance ou que s’y mêle du merveilleux, du féerique.

Corpus desk

Index FR-conte · conte · French

conte · rank #4,741 · 7 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #4,741
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 7 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 8,609
  • PHOTO-FINISH contacter

Nearest frequency peer: contacter (-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.

Frequency neighbourhood for “conte”

Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)

corpus weight

What this shows Bars show where “conte” sits against the nearest ranked French headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.

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).

conte vs Cte
40% similar
conte vs côte
60% similar
conte vs coût
60% similar

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

Key facts for conte
PropertyValue
Headwordconte
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\kɔ̃t\
Letters5
Frequency rank#4,741
Misspellings tracked7
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Où “conte” se place dans la fréquence du français

De gauche à droite: le peu qui porte la parole quotidienne, puis la longue queue quasi invisible.contese place ici:

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

L'axe est logarithmique: chaque tic marque environ dix fois moins de fréquence. Dans la même bande de rareté figurent « contacter » (#4,740), « couches » (#4,742), « connaissais » (#4,739). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 7 spelling variants around conte (IPA \kɔ̃t\), anoun. Corpus frequency is #4,741 among 8,609 “C” headwords. Wiktionary lists 3 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 7 likely wrong-spelling variants for conte, with forms such as "cconte", "cnote", and "conet". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "Cte", "côte", "coût", 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 conte, spelled C-O-N-T-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Récit d’aventures imaginaires, soit qu’elles aient de la vraisemblance ou que s’y mêle du merveilleux, du féerique.
  2. 2
    Forme littéraire courte et simple, issue de la tradition populaire et orale, généralement destinée aux lectures divertissantes du soir en communauté ou à l’instruction des enfants.
  3. 3
    Histoire plaisante, vraie ou fausse, que l’on dit pour amuser, railler, médire, tromper, etc.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Le lion a complètement disparu de la région dont nous nous occupons ; mais il joue un grand rôle dans les contes indigènes, qui le représentent comme un animal essentiellement noble et magnanime.
  2. Un conte ne s’adresse pas à la conscience éveillée, sécularisée : il exerce son empire sur les zones profondes de la psyché, il nourrit et stimule l’imagination.

Synonyms

fablehistoirehistoriettemensongenouvellerécit

This word in other languages

story(English)cuento(Español)Märchen(Deutsch)estória(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • cconte
  • cnote
  • conet
  • connte
  • contte
  • cotne
  • ocnte

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of conte - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.

cconte1cnote2conet2connte1contte1cotne2ocnte2
Edit distance from "conte"

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 "conte"?
"conte" is spelled C-O-N-T-E. The IPA pronunciation is \kɔ̃t\.
What does "conte" mean?
As a noun, "conte" means: Récit d’aventures imaginaires, soit qu’elles aient de la vraisemblance ou que s’y mêle du merveilleux, du féerique.
What words are commonly confused with "conte"?
"conte" is commonly confused with "Cte", "côte", "coût". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "conte"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "conte" is \kɔ̃t\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "conte" come from?
"conte" is a French word. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for this and other words across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German on PlainSpell.
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 "conte", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked French headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

dirai#4,747flash#4,760jambe#4,770pires#4,700

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (7 here; floor ≥5).

Arabie7 variantsLouise7 variantsJones7 variantsroche7 variants

What to do next

You've looked up "conte". Here's where to go from here.

  • "conte" maps to 20 confusable pairs in this vintage; the highest-scored is "Cte". View pair
  • 7 edit-distance misspelling variants are generated for spell-check research on this headword. See variants
  • Usage frequency rank #4,741 among French headwords in this corpus. Corpus statistics
  • Browse more French words in the "C" letter cohort. C–Z browse

PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.

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