écart

\e.kaʁ\

/\e.kaʁ\/ noun

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

The verdict

“écart” has 8 generated spelling variants in the French index at frequency #3,232. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#3,232
frequency rank, French
1,805
“É” headwords
8
tracked misspellings
19
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Action par laquelle deux parties d’une chose s’écartent plus ou moins l’une de l’autre.

Corpus desk

Index FR-ecart · écart · French

écart · rank #3,232 · 8 variants · 19 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #3,232
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 19 pairs
  • VAR-MID 8 variants
  • BOOK-MID 1,805
  • PHOTO-FINISH Yves

Nearest frequency peer: Yves (-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 “écart”

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

corpus weight

What this shows Bars show where “écart” 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).

écart vs état
60% similar
écart vs était
60% similar
écart vs étant
60% similar

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

Key facts for écart
PropertyValue
Headwordécart
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\e.kaʁ\
Letters5
Frequency rank#3,232
Misspellings tracked8
Confusable pairs19
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “écart” sits in French frequency

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).écart lands here:

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

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 8 spelling variants around écart (IPA \e.kaʁ\), anoun. Corpus frequency is #3,232 among 1,805 “É” headwords. Wiktionary lists 13 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 8 likely wrong-spelling variants for écart, with forms such as "céart", "ecart", and "éacrt". 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 19 confusable-pair relationships, "état", "était", "étant", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

This entry carries no recorded etymology, so spelling patterns must be inferred from the word's phoneme-to-grapheme mapping rather than from a documented borrowing chain. The correct French form is écart, spelled É-C-A-R-T.

Definition

  1. 1
    Action par laquelle deux parties d’une chose s’écartent plus ou moins l’une de l’autre.
  2. 2
    Entorse de l’articulation antérieure du cheval, du bœuf, etc.
  3. 3
    Action de s’éloigner (de la direction qu’on doit suivre).
  4. 4
    Variations qui se produisent dans un mécanisme.
  5. 5
    Action de s’écarter de la raison, de la morale ou des bienséances.
  6. 6
    Différence, retard, intervalle, etc.
  7. 7
    Valeur absolue de la différence entre deux valeurs.
  8. 8
    Valeur absolue d’une différence.
  9. 9
    Localité éloignée de l’agglomération principale d’une commune, moins importante qu’un hameau« Glossaire de cartographie », dans le Bulletin du Comité français de cartographie, mars-juin 1990, p. nᵒˢ 123-124, Paris (2ᵉ édition), ouvrage placé sous licence CC BY-SA 4.0 et intégré au Wiktionnaire grâce à un don du Comité français de cartographie..
  10. 10
    Ce que l’on rejette des chambres des vers à soie.
  11. 11
    Sur un marché d’instruments financiers, écart mesuré en taux d’intérêt entre les conditions qu’obtiendraient pour des opérations similaires des émetteurs différents.
  12. 12
    Mouvement latéral brutal et incontrôlé d'un cheval pendant une course.
  13. 13
    Un split, résultat obtenu quand le premier lancer abat les quilles centrales séparant en deux les quilles restantes. Voir aussi Split (bowling).

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Ce cheval s’est donné un écart.
  2. […] Blanchette […] fit un écart terrible, et, bondissant en avant, envoya son conducteur rouler les quatre fers en l’air, toutes paumes ouvertes, en plein milieu du taillis.

This word in other languages

separation(English)Abstand(Deutsch)diferença(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • céart
  • ecart
  • éacrt
  • écarrt
  • écartt
  • écatr
  • éccart
  • écrat

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of écart - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.

céart2ecart1éacrt2écarrt1écartt1écatr2éccart1écrat2
Edit distance from "écart"

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 "écart"?
"écart" is spelled É-C-A-R-T. The IPA pronunciation is \e.kaʁ\.
What does "écart" mean?
As a noun, "écart" means: Action par laquelle deux parties d’une chose s’écartent plus ou moins l’une de l’autre.
What words are commonly confused with "écart"?
"écart" is commonly confused with "état", "était", "étant". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "écart"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "écart" is \e.kaʁ\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "écart" come from?
"écart" 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.

Similar French words by spelling shape

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

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked French headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

assis#3,237battu#3,238copie#3,245envoi#3,252

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (8 here; floor ≥5).

adulte8 variantsfondé8 variantshumeur8 variantsinconnu8 variants

What to do next

You've looked up "écart". Here's where to go from here.

  • "écart" maps to 19 confusable pairs in this vintage; the highest-scored is "état". View pair
  • 8 edit-distance misspelling variants are generated for spell-check research on this headword. See variants
  • Usage frequency rank #3,232 among French headwords in this corpus. Corpus statistics
  • Browse more French words in the "É" letter cohort. É–Z browse

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