docteur

\dɔk.tœʁ\

/\dɔk.tœʁ\/ noun

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

The verdict

“docteur” is a regularly-used French word, ranked #1,624 in French word frequency and used as a noun.

#1,624
frequency rank, French
7
letters
10
tracked misspellings
13
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Personne promue dans une université au grade le plus élevé de quelque faculté.

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

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

docteur vs doter
71% similar
docteur vs douter
71% similar
docteur vs doctor
71% similar

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

Key facts for docteur
PropertyValue
Headworddocteur
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\dɔk.tœʁ\
Letters7
Frequency rank#1,624
Misspellings tracked10
Confusable pairs13
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “docteur” sits in French frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). docteur lands here:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The French entry for docteur is 7 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as \dɔk.tœʁ\. Corpus data places it at rank #1,624 in overall French word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 8 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our generated misspelling index lists 10 likely wrong-spelling variants for docteur, with forms such as "dcoteur", "ddocteur", and "doccteur". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 13 confusable-pair relationships, "doter", "douter", "doctor", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

No explicit etymology string is stored for this entry, so its spelling is easiest to reason about phoneme by phoneme, absent a documented history. The correct French form is docteur, spelled D-O-C-T-E-U-R.

Definition

  1. 1
    Personne promue dans une université au grade le plus élevé de quelque faculté.
  2. 2
    Personne qui professe la médecine et aussi la chirurgie, après avoir acquis le grade de docteur.
  3. 3
    Médecin.
  4. 4
    Personne qui est habile en quelque chose que ce soit.
  5. 5
    Personne donnant des enseignements sur des points de doctrine.
  6. 6
    Exégète ou commentateur pédant ou oiseux.
  7. 7
    Cylindre gravé en creux, destiné à recevoir de l’encre, dans les usines d’impression sur tissu.
  8. 8
    Cylindre destiné à presser la colle sur le cylindre encolleur dans les usines de fabrication de carton ondulé.

Synonyms

docmédecinpraticientoubib

This word in other languages

Ph.D.(English)doctor(Español)Schriftgelehrter(Deutsch)médico(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: dcoteur,ddocteur,doccteur,docetur,docteru,docteurr,doctteur,doctuer,dotceur,odcteur

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

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

dcoteur2ddocteur1doccteur1docetur2docteru2docteurr1doctteur1doctuer2
Edit distance from "docteur"

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 "docteur"?
"docteur" is spelled D-O-C-T-E-U-R. The IPA pronunciation is \dɔk.tœʁ\.
What does "docteur" mean?
As a noun, "docteur" means: Personne promue dans une université au grade le plus élevé de quelque faculté.
What words are commonly confused with "docteur"?
"docteur" is commonly confused with "doter", "douter", "doctor". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "docteur"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "docteur" is \dɔk.tœʁ\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "docteur" come from?
"docteur" 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.

Using “docteur”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct French spelling is D-O-C-T-E-U-R - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as \dɔk.tœʁ\ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
  • Don't mix it up with “doter” - see the side-by-side comparison. docteur vs doter
  • 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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list