duck

noun

The verdict

“duck” is a moderately-common French word, ranked #25,624 in French word frequency and used as a noun.

#25,624
frequency rank, French
4
letters
6
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Toile épaisse et résistante utilisée pour des bâches, de tentes, des voiles, etc.

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

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

duck vs dur
50% similar
duck vs due
50% similar
duck vs duo
50% similar

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

Key facts for duck
PropertyValue
Headwordduck
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
Letters4
Frequency rank#25,624
Misspellings tracked6
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “duck” 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). duck 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 duck is 4 letters long, classified as a noun. Corpus data places it at rank #25,624 in overall French word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "Toile épaisse et résistante utilisée pour des bâches, de tentes, des voiles, etc.".

Our generated misspelling index lists 6 likely wrong-spelling variants for duck, with forms such as "dcuk", "dduck", and "ducck". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "dur", "due", "duo", 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 duck, spelled D-U-C-K.

Definition

  1. 1
    Toile épaisse et résistante utilisée pour des bâches, de tentes, des voiles, etc.

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: dcuk,dduck,ducck,duckk,dukc,udck

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

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

dcuk2dduck1ducck1duckk1dukc2udck2
Edit distance from "duck"

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 "duck"?
"duck" is spelled D-U-C-K.
What does "duck" mean?
As a noun, "duck" means: Toile épaisse et résistante utilisée pour des bâches, de tentes, des voiles, etc.
What words are commonly confused with "duck"?
"duck" is commonly confused with "dur", "due", "duo". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
What language does "duck" come from?
"duck" is a French word. PlainSpell's reference spans five languages -- English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German -- with definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for each.
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 “duck”

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

  • The one correct French spelling is D-U-C-K - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Don't mix it up with “dur” - see the side-by-side comparison. duck vs dur
  • 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