decline

noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

The verdict

“decline” is uncommon French (frequency #86,604 among 404,891 “D” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#86,604
frequency rank, French
404,891
“D” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Déclin, recul , abaissement.

Key facts for decline
PropertyValue
Headworddecline
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
Letters7
Frequency rank#86,604
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “decline” sits in French frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). decline lands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

decline is uncommon French at frequency #86,604 among 404,891 “D” headwords, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Déclin, recul , abaissement.".

decline doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. This headword has no recorded confusable partner, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.

Our source data has no etymology on file for this entry, leaving phoneme-to-grapheme mapping as the best guide to its spelling rather than a borrowing history. The correct French form is decline, spelled D-E-C-L-I-N-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Déclin, recul , abaissement.

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

How do you spell "decline"?
"decline" is spelled D-E-C-L-I-N-E.
What does "decline" mean?
As a noun, "decline" means: Déclin, recul , abaissement.
What language does "decline" come from?
"decline" is a French word. PlainSpell covers definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German.
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 “decline”

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

  • The one correct French spelling is D-E-C-L-I-N-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Browse more French words and confusable pairs in the same reference. French words

Other uncommon French words near this rank

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