control
\kən.ˈtɹoʊl\
The verdict
“control” is a moderately-common French word, ranked #13,145 in French word frequency and used as a verb.
- #13,145
- frequency rank, French
- 7
- letters
- 11
- tracked misspellings
- 11
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Contrôler (diriger, dominer d’une façon précise).
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 | control |
| Language | French |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | \kən.ˈtɹoʊl\ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Frequency rank | #13,145 |
| Misspellings tracked | 11 |
| Confusable pairs | 11 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “control” sits in French frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The French entry for control is 7 letters long, classified as a verb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as \kən.ˈtɹoʊl\. Corpus data places it at rank #13,145 in overall French word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 4 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 11 likely wrong-spelling variants for control, with forms such as "ccontrol", "cnotrol", and "conntrol". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 11 confusable-pair relationships, "controle", "contrôler", "contrôles", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
This entry's etymology isn't recorded, so any spelling logic here comes from how the word's sounds map to letters, not a documented origin story. The correct French form is control, spelled C-O-N-T-R-O-L.
Definition
- 1Contrôler (diriger, dominer d’une façon précise).
- 2Contrôler.
- 3Maitriser, maîtriser.
- 4Contrôler (take one's ticket; check one's ticket).
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: ccontrol,cnotrol,conntrol,conrtol,contorl,contrlo,controll,contrrol,conttrol,cotnrol,ocntrol
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of control - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
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
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Using “control”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct French spelling is C-O-N-T-R-O-L - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as \kən.ˈtɹoʊl\ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “controle” - see the side-by-side comparison. control vs controle
- 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.