dos

\do\

/\do\/ noun

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

The verdict

“dos” is in the everyday core of French, ranked #961 in French word frequency and used as a noun.

#961
frequency rank, French
3
letters
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Partie du corps humain située au-dessus du postérieur, depuis le cou jusqu’aux reins.

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

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

dos vs du
33% similar
dos vs dr
33% similar
dos vs Ds
33% similar

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

Key facts for dos
PropertyValue
Headworddos
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\do\
Letters3
Frequency rank#961
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “dos” 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). dos 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 dos is 3 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as \do\. Corpus data places it at rank #961 in overall French word frequency, putting it firmly in the everyday core of the language. Wiktionary records 8 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for dos, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "du", "dr", "Ds", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

This headword's origin isn't recorded in our source data, so its spelling is best explained by sound-to-letter mapping rather than etymology. The correct French form is dos, spelled D-O-S.

Definition

  1. 1
    Partie du corps humain située au-dessus du postérieur, depuis le cou jusqu’aux reins.
  2. 2
    Partie équivalente au dos humain du corps de certains animaux.
  3. 3
    Envers, partie de certaines choses qui, par sa destination, par sa position ou par sa forme, offre quelque rapport avec le dos de l’homme ou de l’animal.
  4. 4
    Dos crawlé (style de nage).
  5. 5
    Partie opposée au tranchant d’une lame, qui porte généralement les inscriptions indiquant le nom du fournisseur de l’arme.
  6. 6
    Côté du livre où se trouve la reliure. À ne pas confondre avec la quatrième de couverture.
  7. 7
    Proxénète.
  8. 8
    Dans une course hippique, espace situé derrière un cheval, sillage.

Antonyms

devantfaceventre

This word in other languages

back(English)espalda(Español)Rücken(Deutsch)costas(Português)

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 "dos"?
"dos" is spelled D-O-S. The IPA pronunciation is \do\.
What does "dos" mean?
As a noun, "dos" means: Partie du corps humain située au-dessus du postérieur, depuis le cou jusqu’aux reins.
What words are commonly confused with "dos"?
"dos" is commonly confused with "du", "dr", "Ds". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "dos"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "dos" is \do\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "dos" come from?
"dos" 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 “dos”

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

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