contourner

/\kɔ̃.tuʁ.ne\/ verb

Letters

10 characters

Frequency Rank

#10,676

in French word usage

Misspellings

15

tracked variants

Confusables

1

similar word pairs

contourner is aFrenchverb. It means: Déformer ; faire qu’une chose soit de travers. Pronounced \kɔ̃.tuʁ.ne\. Often confused with contourne.

Key facts for contourner
PropertyValue
Headwordcontourner
LanguageFrench
Part of speechVerb
IPA\kɔ̃.tuʁ.ne\
Letters10
Frequency rank#10,676
Misspellings tracked15
Confusable pairs1
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency rank visualization

Position of contourner in French word frequency (lower rank = more common)

Source: Wordfreq corpus

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The French entry for contourner is 10 letters long, classified as averb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as \kɔ̃.tuʁ.ne\. Corpus data places it at rank #10,676 in overall French word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it.Wiktionary records 6 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our Hunspell-derived misspelling index lists 15 documented wrong-spelling variants for contourner, with forms such as "ccontourner", "cnotourner", and "conntourner". Each variant represents a distinct typo pattern that appears often enough in corpora to be worth flagging, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution.It also participates in 1 confusable-pair relationship, "contourne", where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

No explicit etymology string is stored for this entry, so spelling patterns must be inferred from the word's phoneme-to-grapheme mapping rather than from a documented borrowing chain. For readers arriving here from a spelling check, the authoritative guidance is: the correct French form is contourner, spelled C-O-N-T-O-U-R-N-E-R, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.

Definition

  1. 1
    Déformer ; faire qu’une chose soit de travers.
  2. 2
    Faire le tour de quelque chose.
  3. 3
    Suivre, à l’aide d’une fraise, la forme d’une pièce ; usiner son contour.
  4. 4
    Éviter de respecter en exploitant un biais.
  5. 5
    Sinuer, faire des contours.
  6. 6
    Sinuer, faire des contours.

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: ccontourner,cnotourner,conntourner,conoturner,contoruner,contounrer,contourenr,contournerr,contournner,contournre,contourrner,conttourner,contuorner,cotnourner,ocntourner

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

Relative frequency of common misspelling types for contourner

Misspelling Variants of "contourner"

ccontourner11cnotourner10conntourner11conoturner10contoruner10contounrer10contourenr10contournerr11
Misspelling Variants of "contourner"

Frequency rank: #10,676 in French

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "contourner"?
"contourner" is spelled C-O-N-T-O-U-R-N-E-R. The IPA pronunciation is \kɔ̃.tuʁ.ne\.
What does "contourner" mean?
As a verb, "contourner" means: Déformer ; faire qu’une chose soit de travers.
What words are commonly confused with "contourner"?
"contourner" is commonly confused with "contourne". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "contourner"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "contourner" is \kɔ̃.tuʁ.ne\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "contourner" come from?
"contourner" 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.

Nearby French words

Other entries that begin with the letter C in our French index:

Explore PlainSpell

Data Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Frequency data from Wordfreq. Misspellings derived from Hunspell dictionaries.