devant

\də.vɑ̃\

/\də.vɑ̃\/ prep

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

The verdict

“devant” has 9 generated spelling variants in the French index at frequency #265. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#265
frequency rank, French
5,307
“D” headwords
9
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - À l’opposé de, vis-à-vis de, en face de.

Corpus desk

Index FR-devant · devant · French

devant · rank #265 · 9 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-CORE #265
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 9 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 5,307
  • PHOTO-FINISH ci

Nearest frequency peer: ci (-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 « devant »

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

corpus weight

What this shows « devant » 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).

devant vs divan
67% similar
devant vs devin
67% similar
devant vs devon
67% similar

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

Key facts for devant
PropertyValue
Headworddevant
LanguageFrench
Part of speechPreposition
IPA\də.vɑ̃\
Letters6
Frequency rank#265
Misspellings tracked9
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Fréquence de l'aimant d'erreurs « devant »

La fréquence va de la poignée de mots du quotidien (gauche) à la longue queue presque jamais vue (droite).devantse 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 « ci » (#264), « certains » (#263), « jeu » (#267). Parmi 5,307 lemmes en « D », « devant » est au #265. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 9 spelling variants around devant (IPA \də.vɑ̃\), apreposition. Corpus frequency is #265 among 5,307 “D” headwords. Wiktionary lists 5 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 9 likely wrong-spelling variants for devant, with forms such as "ddevant", "deavnt", and "devannt". 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 20 confusable-pair relationships, "divan", "devin", "devon", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

This headword's origin isn't recorded in our source data, so its spelling pattern is best understood through pronunciation rather than a traceable origin. The correct French form is devant, spelled D-E-V-A-N-T.

Definition

  1. 1
    À l’opposé de, vis-à-vis de, en face de.
  2. 2
    En avant de.
  3. 3
    À l’avant, dans le rang dans l'ordre.
  4. 4
    En présence de.
  5. 5
    Auparavant.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Se mettre devant quelqu’un pour lui barrer le passage. — Regarder devant soi. — Avoir toujours une chose devant les yeux. — Passer devant quelqu’un sans le voir.
  2. Porter quelque chose devant soi. — Il se promenait devant la maison.

This word in other languages

before(English)ante(Español)vor(Deutsch)diante(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • ddevant
  • deavnt
  • devannt
  • devantt
  • devatn
  • devnat
  • devvant
  • dveant
  • edvant

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of devant - 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.

ddevant1deavnt2devannt1devantt1devatn2devnat2devvant1dveant2
Edit distance from "devant"

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 "devant"?
"devant" is spelled D-E-V-A-N-T. The IPA pronunciation is \də.vɑ̃\.
What does "devant" mean?
As a preposition, "devant" means: À l’opposé de, vis-à-vis de, en face de.
What words are commonly confused with "devant"?
"devant" is commonly confused with "divan", "devin", "devon". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "devant"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "devant" is \də.vɑ̃\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "devant" come from?
"devant" 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 "devant", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

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

raison#259partir#275choses#278savoir#251

Similar misspelling depth

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

ailleurs9 variantspouvoir9 variantsnombre9 variantsparler9 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list