détenu

\det.ny\

/\det.ny\/ adj

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

The verdict

“détenu” has 9 generated spelling variants in the French index at frequency #7,556. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#7,556
frequency rank, French
5,307
“D” headwords
9
tracked misspellings
19
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Qui est en état de détention, qui est prisonnier.

Corpus desk

Index FR-detenu · détenu · French

détenu · rank #7,556 · 9 variants · 19 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #7,556
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 19 pairs
  • VAR-MID 9 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 5,307
  • PHOTO-FINISH dépendant

Nearest frequency peer: dépendant (-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.

Pairs de rang près de l'aimant d'erreurs « détenu »

Même bande de rareté: utile si une faute tombe sur un lemme voisin

corpus weight

What this shows « détenu » siège parmi ces pairs FrequencyWords; la profondeur des fautes est suivie à part dans le graphique d'édition.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

détenu vs devenu
67% similar
détenu vs devenue
57% similar
détenu vs devenus
57% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for détenu
PropertyValue
Headworddétenu
LanguageFrench
Part of speechAdjective
IPA\det.ny\
Letters6
Frequency rank#7,556
Misspellings tracked9
Confusable pairs19
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Fréquence de l'aimant d'erreurs « détenu »

De gauche à droite: le peu qui porte la parole quotidienne, puis la longue queue quasi invisible.détenuse place ici:

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

L'axe est logarithmique: chaque tic marque environ dix fois moins de fréquence. Dans la même bande de rareté figurent « dépendant » (#7,555), « Ei » (#7,557), « défaites » (#7,554). Parmi 5,307 lemmes en « D », « détenu » est au #7,556. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 9 spelling variants around détenu (IPA \det.ny\), anadjective. Corpus frequency is #7,556 among 5,307 “D” headwords. Dominant gloss: "Qui est en état de détention, qui est prisonnier.".

Our generated misspelling index lists 9 likely wrong-spelling variants for détenu, with forms such as "ddétenu", "detenu", and "dtéenu". 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 19 confusable-pair relationships, "devenu", "devenue", "devenus", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

This entry's etymology isn't recorded, leaving phoneme-to-grapheme mapping as the best guide to its spelling rather than a borrowing history. The correct French form is détenu, spelled D-É-T-E-N-U.

Definition

  1. 1
    Qui est en état de détention, qui est prisonnier.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Un homme détenu.
  2. Une femme détenue.

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • ddétenu
  • detenu
  • dtéenu
  • déetnu
  • détennu
  • déteun
  • détneu
  • déttenu
  • édtenu

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of détenu - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.

ddétenu1detenu1dtéenu2déetnu2détennu1déteun2détneu2déttenu1
Edit distance from "détenu"

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 "détenu"?
"détenu" is spelled D-É-T-E-N-U. The IPA pronunciation is \det.ny\.
What does "détenu" mean?
As an adjective, "détenu" means: Qui est en état de détention, qui est prisonnier.
What words are commonly confused with "détenu"?
"détenu" is commonly confused with "devenu", "devenue", "devenus". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "détenu"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "détenu" is \det.ny\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "détenu" come from?
"détenu" 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.

Similar French words by spelling shape

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

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked French headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

center#7,539guérir#7,575cabine#7,535bloque#7,531

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (9 here; floor ≥5).

Jennifer9 variantsjungle9 variantsarnaque9 variantsajoutée9 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list