de soi-même
\də swa mɛm\
The verdict
“de soi-même” is uncommon French (outside the top frequency list), classed as an adverb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency French
- 11
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Spontanément, sans y être contraint ou incité.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | de soi-même |
| Language | French |
| Part of speech | Adverb |
| IPA | \də swa mɛm\ |
| Letters | 11 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “de soi-même” sits in French frequency
Rare enough to double-check
de soi-même is uncommon French outside the top frequency list, classed as anadverb, transcribed \də swa mɛm\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Spontanément, sans y être contraint ou incité.".
Zero misspellings are on record for de soi-même in our index, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. No confusable counterpart is on file for this word, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.
No borrowing history is documented for this entry, 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 de soi-même, spelled D-E- -S-O-I---M-Ê-M-E.
Definition
- 1Spontanément, sans y être contraint ou incité.
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
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Using “de soi-même”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct French spelling is D-E- -S-O-I---M-Ê-M-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as \də swa mɛm\ (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.