de fond en comble

\də fɔ̃.t‿ɑ̃ kɔ̃bl\

/\də fɔ̃.t‿ɑ̃ kɔ̃bl\/ adv

The verdict

“de fond en comble” is uncommon French (outside the top frequency list), classed as an adverb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency French
17
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Depuis les fondations jusqu’au comble d’un bâtiment.

Corpus desk

Index FR-de-fond-en-comble · de fond en comble · French

de fond en comble · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-MEGA 17 letters
  • VOW-5 5 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "D" thin
  • PHOTO-UNK Peer pending

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.

Key facts for de fond en comble
PropertyValue
Headwordde fond en comble
LanguageFrench
Part of speechAdverb
IPA\də fɔ̃.t‿ɑ̃ kɔ̃bl\
Letters17
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Longue queue: rang de « de fond en comble » en français

de fond en comblen'entre pas dans le top 100.000 du français: zone de termes techniques, archaïques ou rares.

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

Rare enough to double-check

de fond en comble is uncommon French outside the top frequency list, classed as anadverb, transcribed \də fɔ̃.t‿ɑ̃ kɔ̃bl\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

No misspelling variants are generated for de fond en comble in our index, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. This headword has no recorded confusable partner, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.

No documented word history exists for this headword, so its spelling is easiest to reason about phoneme by phoneme, absent a documented history. The correct French form is de fond en comble, spelled D-E- -F-O-N-D- -E-N- -C-O-M-B-L-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Depuis les fondations jusqu’au comble d’un bâtiment.
  2. 2
    Entièrement ; intégralement.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Il est vrai que, sans la fermeté de ce ministre, cette cession leur eût été funeste ; car la populace de Brousse, excitée par le kadi, démolit de fond en comble, non-seulement la nouvelle, mais encore trois anciennes églises.
  2. Prenons Notre-Dame de Paris ; elle a été rafistolée et retapée de fond en comble ; ses sculptures sont rapiécées quand elles ne sont pas toutes modernes ; […].

Synonyms

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 "de fond en comble"?
"de fond en comble" is spelled D-E- -F-O-N-D- -E-N- -C-O-M-B-L-E. The IPA pronunciation is \də fɔ̃.t‿ɑ̃ kɔ̃bl\.
What does "de fond en comble" mean?
As an adverb, "de fond en comble" means: Depuis les fondations jusqu’au comble d’un bâtiment.
How do you pronounce "de fond en comble"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "de fond en comble" is \də fɔ̃.t‿ɑ̃ kɔ̃bl\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "de fond en comble" come from?
"de fond en comble" 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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list