eau

\o\

/\o\/ noun

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

The verdict

“eau” sits in 20 confusable pairs (corpus #287) as a noun. The look-alike neighbours are the real trap.

#287
frequency rank, French
3,255
“E” headwords
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Liquide transparent, incolore, inodore et insipide à l’état pur, qui est le principal constituant des lacs, rivières, mers et océans.

Corpus desk

Index FR-eau · eau · French

eau · rank #287 · 0 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-CORE #287
  • LEN-MID 3 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,255
  • PHOTO-FINISH site

Nearest frequency peer: site (-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.

Frequency neighbourhood for “eau”

Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)

corpus weight

What this shows Bars show where “eau” sits against the nearest ranked French headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.

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).

eau vs et
33% similar
eau vs en
33% similar
eau vs Eu
33% similar

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

Key facts for eau
PropertyValue
Headwordeau
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\o\
Letters3
Frequency rank#287
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “eau” 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). eau lands here:

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

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

Easy to mix with look-alikes

The spelling risk for eau is neighbouring look-alikes ("et", "en", …), not just typos; it is anoun pronounced \o\. Frequency #287 among 3,255 “E” headwords. 16 recorded senses keep meaning in play.

The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for eau, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "et", "en", "Eu", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

No documented word history exists for this headword, so its spelling is easiest to reason about phoneme by phoneme, absent a documented history. The correct French form is eau, spelled E-A-U.

Definition

  1. 1
    Liquide transparent, incolore, inodore et insipide à l’état pur, qui est le principal constituant des lacs, rivières, mers et océans.
  2. 2
    Pluie.
  3. 3
    Corps composé de formule brute H₂O existant surtout sous forme de glace, d’eau liquide ou de vapeur, mais aussi d’eau de constitution.
  4. 4
    Quantités ou étendues liquides naturelles.
  5. 5
    Zone maritime considérée comme un territoire appartenant à tel ou tel pays que baigne cette mer.
  6. 6
    Sillage, houaiche.
  7. 7
    Fluides, sérosités qui se trouvent ou qui se forment dans le corps de l’être humain ou de l’animal.
  8. 8
    Fluides, sérosités qui se trouvent ou qui se forment dans le corps de l’être humain ou de l’animal.
  9. 9
    Fluides, sérosités qui se trouvent ou qui se forment dans le corps de l’être humain ou de l’animal.
  10. 10
    Fluides, sérosités qui se trouvent ou qui se forment dans le corps de l’être humain ou de l’animal.
  11. 11
    Sources qui, en passant dans l’intérieur de la terre au travers des minéraux, ont contracté quelque vertu médicinale, et dont on fait usage, soit en s’y baignant, soit en les prenant comme boisson. Lieu où l’on va prendre ces eaux.
  12. 12
    Liquide artificiel extrait d’une substance par distillation, décoction, ou expression, ou composé de différentes substances.
  13. 13
    Flux ; flot ; courant.
  14. 14
    Désigne des couleurs, en particulier un vert pâle et doux. #B0F2B6 .
  15. 15
    Lustre, brillant qu’ont les perles, les diamants et quelques autres pierreries.
  16. 16
    Élément primordial de l’univers, dans certaines cosmogonies.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. En vain, j’avais cherché un ru, dont l’eau fraîche chante sous les feuilles, ou bien une source, comme il s’en trouve pourtant beaucoup dans le pays […]
  2. À Mogador, nouvelle relâche, mais la barque envoyée à terre pour rapporter de l’eau fraîche faillit être capturée par les Arabes.

Synonyms

agouachâteau la pompeflottejus de parapluiesirop d’ablettesirop de parapluieflottebailleondeacide hydroxyqueacide oxhydriquehydrogénolhydroxyde d’hydrogènehydroxyde d’oxoniummonoxyde de dihydrogèneoxyde d’hydrogène

This word in other languages

water(English)agua(Español)Wasser(Deutsch)água(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.

PlainSpell is rendered directly from structured Wiktionary extracts and open word-frequency lists, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of September 3, 2026. Primary sources: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) and FrequencyWords.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "eau"?
"eau" is spelled E-A-U. The IPA pronunciation is \o\.
What does "eau" mean?
As a noun, "eau" means: Liquide transparent, incolore, inodore et insipide à l’état pur, qui est le principal constituant des lacs, rivières, mers et océans.
What words are commonly confused with "eau"?
"eau" is commonly confused with "et", "en", "Eu". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "eau"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "eau" is \o\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "eau" come from?
"eau" 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.

Similar French words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "eau", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked French headwords with 3 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

tes#297loi#300jeu#267mis#339

What to do next

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PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.

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