contenir
\kɔ̃t.niʁ\
The verdict
“contenir” is a regularly-used French word, ranked #6,070 in French word frequency and used as a verb.
- #6,070
- frequency rank, French
- 8
- letters
- 12
- tracked misspellings
- 14
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Avoir une certaine contenance, comprendre dans certain espace, dans certaine étendue.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | contenir |
| Language | French |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | \kɔ̃t.niʁ\ |
| Letters | 8 |
| Frequency rank | #6,070 |
| Misspellings tracked | 12 |
| Confusable pairs | 14 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “contenir” sits in French frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The French entry for contenir is 8 letters long, classified as a verb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as \kɔ̃t.niʁ\. Corpus data places it at rank #6,070 in overall French word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 6 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 12 likely wrong-spelling variants for contenir, with forms such as "ccontenir", "cnotenir", and "conetnir". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 14 confusable-pair relationships, "conter", "content", "contenu", 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, so its spelling is best read as a straightforward mapping from sound to letter. The correct French form is contenir, spelled C-O-N-T-E-N-I-R.
Definition
- 1Avoir une certaine contenance, comprendre dans certain espace, dans certaine étendue.
- 2Renfermer.
- 3Renfermer.
- 4Retenir dans certaines bornes.
- 5Retenir dans certaines bornes.
- 6Résister à la tentation de se mettre en colère.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: ccontenir,cnotenir,conetnir,conntenir,conteinr,contenirr,contennir,contenri,contneir,conttenir,cotnenir,ocntenir
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of contenir - 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.
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 "contenir"?
What does "contenir" mean?
What words are commonly confused with "contenir"?
How do you pronounce "contenir"?
What language does "contenir" come from?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Using “contenir”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct French spelling is C-O-N-T-E-N-I-R - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as \kɔ̃t.niʁ\ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “conter” - see the side-by-side comparison. contenir vs conter
- 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.