DELF

\dɛlf\

/\dɛlf\/ noun

The verdict

“DELF” is uncommon French (frequency #65,070 among 5,307 “D” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#65,070
frequency rank, French
5,307
“D” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Diplôme d’études en langue française, diplôme officiel délivré par le ministère français de l’éducation nationale pour certifier les connaissances en français des adultes.

Corpus desk

Index FR-delf · DELF · French

DELF · rank #65,070 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #65,070
  • LEN-MID 4 letters
  • VOW-1 1 vowel
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 5,307
  • PHOTO-FINISH Dekker

Nearest frequency peer: Dekker (-1 rank slots)

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.

Rangs de longue queue près de « DELF »

Bande clairsemée: les barres inversent le rang pour que le rare se lise plus court

corpus weight

What this shows Vue de longue queue: où « DELF » se situe face à des rangs français aussi rares.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for DELF
PropertyValue
HeadwordDELF
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\dɛlf\
Letters4
Frequency rank#65,070
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Longue queue: rang de « DELF » en français

La fréquence va de la poignée de mots du quotidien (gauche) à la longue queue presque jamais vue (droite).DELFtombe dans cette queue de rareté:

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

L'axe est logarithmique: chaque tic marque environ dix fois moins de fréquence. Voisins rares de la même bande: « Dekker » (#65,069), « DeLorean » (#65,071), « demanderas » (#65,072). Parmi 5,307 lemmes en « D », « DELF » est au #65,070. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

DELF is uncommon French at frequency #65,070 among 5,307 “D” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed \dɛlf\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Diplôme d’études en langue française, diplôme officiel délivré par le ministère français de l’éducation nationale pour certifier les connaissances en français des adultes.".

No generated misspelling entries exist for DELF in our index, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.

Our source data has no etymology on file for this entry, so its spelling is best explained by sound-to-letter mapping rather than etymology. The correct French form is DELF, spelled D-E-L-F.

Definition

  1. 1
    Diplôme d’études en langue française, diplôme officiel délivré par le ministère français de l’éducation nationale pour certifier les connaissances en français des adultes.

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 "DELF"?
"DELF" is spelled D-E-L-F. The IPA pronunciation is \dɛlf\.
What does "DELF" mean?
As a noun, "DELF" means: Diplôme d’études en langue française, diplôme officiel délivré par le ministère français de l’éducation nationale pour certifier les connaissances en français des adultes.
How do you pronounce "DELF"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "DELF" is \dɛlf\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "DELF" come from?
"DELF" 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.

Similar French words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "DELF", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked French headwords with 4 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list