contenance

\kɔ̃t.nɑ̃s\

/\kɔ̃t.nɑ̃s\/ noun

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

The verdict

“contenance” has 15 generated spelling variants in the French index at frequency #26,312. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#26,312
frequency rank, French
8,609
“C” headwords
15
tracked misspellings
5
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Capacité ou étendue superficielle.

Corpus desk

Index FR-contenance · contenance · French

contenance · rank #26,312 · 15 variants · 5 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #26,312
  • LEN-MEGA 10 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-MID 5 pairs
  • VAR-HIGH 15 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 8,609
  • PHOTO-FINISH constatons

Nearest frequency peer: constatons (-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 « contenance »

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

corpus weight

What this shows « contenance » 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).

contenance vs contenant
80% similar
contenance vs convenance
90% similar
contenance vs contenants
80% similar

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

Key facts for contenance
PropertyValue
Headwordcontenance
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\kɔ̃t.nɑ̃s\
Letters10
Frequency rank#26,312
Misspellings tracked15
Confusable pairs5
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Fréquence de l'aimant d'erreurs « contenance »

Cette échelle va du noyau du français courant (gauche) jusqu'à la traîne des formes rares (droite).contenancese 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 « constatons » (#26,311), « contributeur » (#26,313), « confidentiels » (#26,310). Parmi 8,609 lemmes en « C », « contenance » est au #26,312. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 15 spelling variants around contenance (IPA \kɔ̃t.nɑ̃s\), anoun. Corpus frequency is #26,312 among 8,609 “C” headwords. Wiktionary lists 2 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 15 likely wrong-spelling variants for contenance, with forms such as "ccontenance", "cnotenance", and "conetnance". 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 5 confusable-pair relationships, "contenant", "convenance", "contenants", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

No borrowing history is documented for this entry, so its spelling is easiest explained by how it's pronounced rather than where it came from. The correct French form is contenance, spelled C-O-N-T-E-N-A-N-C-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Capacité ou étendue superficielle.
  2. 2
    Manière de se tenir, de se présenter devant une personne ou d’autres personnes.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Ce parc est d’une contenance de cent hectares. - Cette citerne a une contenance de cent mètres-cubes.
  2. Il était visible, à la contenance du maître, qu’il était d’un caractère franc mais impétueux et irascible.

This word in other languages

capacity(English)capacidad(Español)Fassungsvermögen(Deutsch)compostura(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • ccontenance
  • cnotenance
  • conetnance
  • conntenance
  • conteannce
  • contenacne
  • contenancce
  • contenanec
  • contenannce
  • contennace
  • contennance
  • contneance
  • conttenance
  • cotnenance
  • ocntenance

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

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

ccontenance1cnotenance2conetnance2conntenance1conteannce2contenacne2contenancce1contenanec2
Edit distance from "contenance"

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 "contenance"?
"contenance" is spelled C-O-N-T-E-N-A-N-C-E. The IPA pronunciation is \kɔ̃t.nɑ̃s\.
What does "contenance" mean?
As a noun, "contenance" means: Capacité ou étendue superficielle.
What words are commonly confused with "contenance"?
"contenance" is commonly confused with "contenant", "convenance", "contenants". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "contenance"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "contenance" is \kɔ̃t.nɑ̃s\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "contenance" come from?
"contenance" 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.

Similar French words by spelling shape

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

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked French headwords with 10 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

constatons#26,311composites#26,306claquement#26,299décorateur#26,334

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (15 here; floor ≥5).

dissensions15 variantsenfreindre15 variantseucharistie15 variantsancestrale15 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list