contour

\kɔ̃.tuʁ\

/\kɔ̃.tuʁ\/ noun

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

The verdict

“contour” has 10 generated spelling variants in the French index at frequency #16,845. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#16,845
frequency rank, French
8,609
“C” headwords
10
tracked misspellings
13
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Limite externe de la surface d’un corps, surtout en parlant des objets arrondis.

Corpus desk

Index FR-contour · contour · French

contour · rank #16,845 · 10 variants · 13 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #16,845
  • LEN-LONG 7 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-MID 13 pairs
  • VAR-MID 10 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 8,609
  • PHOTO-FINISH contempler

Nearest frequency peer: contempler (-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 « contour »

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

corpus weight

What this shows « contour » 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).

contour vs contrer
71% similar
contour vs contours
88% similar
contour vs contourne
78% similar

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

Key facts for contour
PropertyValue
Headwordcontour
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\kɔ̃.tuʁ\
Letters7
Frequency rank#16,845
Misspellings tracked10
Confusable pairs13
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Fréquence de l'aimant d'erreurs « contour »

Cette échelle va du noyau du français courant (gauche) jusqu'à la traîne des formes rares (droite).contourse place ici:

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

Les tics avancent en logarithme; chacun est de l'ordre de dix fois plus rare. Dans la même bande de rareté figurent « contempler » (#16,844), « corail » (#16,846), « constantes » (#16,843). Parmi 8,609 lemmes en « C », « contour » est au #16,845. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 10 spelling variants around contour (IPA \kɔ̃.tuʁ\), anoun. Corpus frequency is #16,845 among 8,609 “C” headwords. Wiktionary lists 6 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 10 likely wrong-spelling variants for contour, with forms such as "ccontour", "cnotour", and "conntour". 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 13 confusable-pair relationships, "contrer", "contours", "contourne", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

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 contour, spelled C-O-N-T-O-U-R.

Definition

  1. 1
    Limite externe de la surface d’un corps, surtout en parlant des objets arrondis.
  2. 2
    Silhouette, profil, périmètre, ligne de délinéation.
  3. 3
    Enceinte.
  4. 4
    Virage.
  5. 5
    Trait délimitant une surface.
  6. 6
    Trait ou ligne de changement de couleur ou de valeur d'un graphisme, qui en délimite l'ensemble ou des éléments.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Le vieillard appartenait aux modèles affectionnés par les mâles pinceaux de Schnetz ; c’était un visage brun dont les rides nombreuses paraissaient rudes au toucher, un nez droit, des pommettes saillantes et veinées de rouge comme une vieille feuille de vigne, de contours anguleux, tous les caractères de la force, même là où la force avait disparu ; ses m…
  2. Ces montagnes, en raison de leur constitution géologique, sont plus que n'importe quelles autres soumises à l'influence de l'érosion. Les Basses-Alpes s'usent, s'écroulent lentement, modifient leurs contours, tendent à s'aplanir.

Synonyms

galbe

This word in other languages

contour(English)contorno(Español)Kontur(Deutsch)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • ccontour
  • cnotour
  • conntour
  • conotur
  • contoru
  • contourr
  • conttour
  • contuor
  • cotnour
  • ocntour

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of contour - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.

ccontour1cnotour2conntour1conotur2contoru2contourr1conttour1contuor2
Edit distance from "contour"

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 "contour"?
"contour" is spelled C-O-N-T-O-U-R. The IPA pronunciation is \kɔ̃.tuʁ\.
What does "contour" mean?
As a noun, "contour" means: Limite externe de la surface d’un corps, surtout en parlant des objets arrondis.
What words are commonly confused with "contour"?
"contour" is commonly confused with "contrer", "contours", "contourne". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "contour"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "contour" is \kɔ̃.tuʁ\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "contour" come from?
"contour" 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 "contour", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

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

coupant#16,848digérer#16,856centime#16,827Cayenne#16,826

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (10 here; floor ≥5).

connecte10 variantsdiarrhée10 variantsenglobe10 variantscabines10 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list