devancer
\də.vɑ̃.se\
The verdict
“devancer” is a moderately-common French word, ranked #29,310 in French word frequency and used as a verb.
- #29,310
- frequency rank, French
- 8
- letters
- 12
- tracked misspellings
- 9
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Précéder quelqu’un en gagnant le devant, arriver avant lui.
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 | devancer |
| Language | French |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | \də.vɑ̃.se\ |
| Letters | 8 |
| Frequency rank | #29,310 |
| Misspellings tracked | 12 |
| Confusable pairs | 9 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “devancer” sits in French frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The French entry for devancer is 8 letters long, classified as a verb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as \də.vɑ̃.se\. Corpus data places it at rank #29,310 in overall French word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 5 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 devancer, with forms such as "ddevancer", "deavncer", and "devacner". 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 9 confusable-pair relationships, "deviner", "déviance", "dancer", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
No borrowing history is documented 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 devancer, spelled D-E-V-A-N-C-E-R.
Definition
- 1Précéder quelqu’un en gagnant le devant, arriver avant lui.
- 2Précéder dans l’ordre des temps.
- 3Précéder quelqu’un dans l’accomplissement d’une chose en y apportant plus de diligence.
- 4Surpasser, avoir l’avantage.
- 5Anticiper une action et agir avant qu’elle se réalise.
Synonyms
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: ddevancer,deavncer,devacner,devanccer,devancerr,devancre,devanecr,devanncer,devnacer,devvancer,dveancer,edvancer
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of devancer - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.
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 "devancer"?
What does "devancer" mean?
What words are commonly confused with "devancer"?
How do you pronounce "devancer"?
What language does "devancer" come from?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Using “devancer”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct French spelling is D-E-V-A-N-C-E-R - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as \də.vɑ̃.se\ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “deviner” - see the side-by-side comparison. devancer vs deviner
- 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.