contraction
French, noun/kɔ̃.tʁak.sjɔ̃/
contraction is spelled C-O-N-T-R-A-C-T-I-O-N (11 letters) and appears 4.2 times per million words in written French, the 12,736th most frequent French word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Contraction is a French feminine noun meaning “contraction” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire) defines it as “Resserrement, par opposition à dilatation”.
What does contraction mean in English?
noun
- 1
femininecontraction
Source: English Wiktionary, French section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How French dictionaries define it
noun: 1. Resserrement, par opposition à dilatation. 2. Resserrement instantané d'un muscle. 3. Contractions importantes des muscles utérins avant et pendant l’accouchement. 4. Réduction ou réunion de deux voyelles, de deux syllabes en une seule.
The definition in the French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire), in French.
Source: French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire), dump of September 1, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org.
Forms of contraction
- contractions plural
Source: English Wiktionary and French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire) (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
How do you pronounce contraction?
- /kɔ̃.tʁak.sjɔ̃/
- \kɔ̃.tʁak.sjɔ̃\
- [kɔ̃.tʁak.ɬ͡sjɔ̃]
Sources: English Wiktionary, French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire) (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026); recordings from Wikimedia Commons.
English words that translate to contraction
Source: the translation tables of the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026.
How common is contraction in French?
contraction appears 4.2 times per million words in written French.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).