coup franc

\ku fʁɑ̃\

/\ku fʁɑ̃\/ noun

The verdict

“coup franc” is outside the top-ranked French vocabulary, used as a noun - the kind of word writers most often double-check.

Unranked
below top-frequency French
10
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Dans certains sports de ballon, pénalité accordée à l’équipe victime d’une faute, consistant à lui redonner le ballon.

Key facts for coup franc
PropertyValue
Headwordcoup franc
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\ku fʁɑ̃\
Letters10
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “coup franc” sits in French frequency

coup franc falls outside the top-100,000 ranked French words, the long-tail zone of technical, archaic, or low-frequency vocabulary, exactly where readers second-guess spellings most.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The French entry for coup franc is 10 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as \ku fʁɑ̃\. It sits outside the most-frequent rank tiers, which is often why uncommon words generate more spelling variants per reader. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "Dans certains sports de ballon, pénalité accordée à l’équipe victime d’une faute, consistant à lui redonner le ballon.".

The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for coup franc, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. This headword has no recorded confusable partner, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.

No borrowing history is documented for this entry, so its spelling is best explained by sound-to-letter mapping rather than etymology. The correct French form is coup franc, spelled C-O-U-P- -F-R-A-N-C.

Definition

  1. 1
    Dans certains sports de ballon, pénalité accordée à l’équipe victime d’une faute, consistant à lui redonner le ballon.

This word in other languages

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "coup franc"?
"coup franc" is spelled C-O-U-P- -F-R-A-N-C. The IPA pronunciation is \ku fʁɑ̃\.
What does "coup franc" mean?
As a noun, "coup franc" means: Dans certains sports de ballon, pénalité accordée à l’équipe victime d’une faute, consistant à lui redonner le ballon.
How do you pronounce "coup franc"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "coup franc" is \ku fʁɑ̃\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "coup franc" come from?
"coup franc" is a French word. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for this and other words across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German on PlainSpell.
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.

Using “coup franc”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct French spelling is C-O-U-P- -F-R-A-N-C - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as \ku fʁɑ̃\ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
  • 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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list