descente
\de.sɑ̃t\
The verdict
“descente” is a regularly-used French word, ranked #4,662 in French word frequency and used as a noun.
- #4,662
- frequency rank, French
- 8
- letters
- 12
- tracked misspellings
- 15
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Action de descendre, d’aller vers le bas.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | descente |
| Language | French |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | \de.sɑ̃t\ |
| Letters | 8 |
| Frequency rank | #4,662 |
| Misspellings tracked | 12 |
| Confusable pairs | 15 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “descente” sits in French frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The French entry for descente is 8 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as \de.sɑ̃t\. Corpus data places it at rank #4,662 in overall French word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 16 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 12 likely wrong-spelling variants for descente, with forms such as "ddescente", "decsente", and "desccente". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 15 confusable-pair relationships, "détente", "déserte", "désuète", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
No documented word history exists for this headword, so its spelling is best read as a straightforward mapping from sound to letter. The correct French form is descente, spelled D-E-S-C-E-N-T-E.
Definition
- 1Action de descendre, d’aller vers le bas.
- 2Action par laquelle on descend quelque chose.
- 3Pente par laquelle on descend.
- 4Tuyau qui porte les eaux d’un chéneau ou d’une cuvette jusque sur le pavé ou par lequel descendent les eaux d’un réservoir.
- 5Discipline de course à ski.
- 6Discipline de course en canoë-kayak.
- 7Discipline de VTT.
- 8Mouvement de haut en bas de quelque chose.
- 9Hernie, ou autre incommodité, qui consiste dans le déplacement et la chute de quelque partie des intestins.
- 10Action de se déplacer temporairement d’un endroit à un autre, pour un séjour.
- 11Irruption des ennemis par mer ou par terre.
- 12Action de se transporter dans un lieu par autorité de justice, ou par action policière, pour en faire la visite, pour y procéder à une perquisition, etc.
- 13Soif, appétit démesuré.
- 14Fin de trip, retour à un état hors d’effet d’une drogue.
- 15Sorte de surprise-partie.
- 16Ouverture dans le pont d’un navire munie d’une échelle.
Antonyms
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: ddescente,decsente,desccente,descenet,descennte,descentte,descetne,descnete,desecnte,desscente,dsecente,edscente
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of descente - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
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 "descente"?
What does "descente" mean?
What words are commonly confused with "descente"?
How do you pronounce "descente"?
What language does "descente" come from?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Using “descente”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct French spelling is D-E-S-C-E-N-T-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as \de.sɑ̃t\ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “détente” - see the side-by-side comparison. descente vs détente
- 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.