échecs

\e.ʃɛk\

/\e.ʃɛk\/ noun

The verdict

“échecs” has 10 generated spelling variants in the French index at frequency #6,573. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#6,573
frequency rank, French
1,805
“É” headwords
10
tracked misspellings
2
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Jeu de stratégie millénaire opposant deux joueurs qui disposent chacun de seize pièces pour paralyser le roi adverse.

Corpus desk

Index FR-echecs · échecs · French

échecs · rank #6,573 · 10 variants · 2 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #6,573
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-LOW 2 pairs
  • VAR-MID 10 variants
  • BOOK-MID 1,805
  • PHOTO-FINISH violation

Nearest frequency peer: violation (-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.

Pairs de rang près de l'aimant d'erreurs « échecs »

Même bande de rareté: utile si une faute tombe sur un lemme voisin

corpus weight

What this shows « échecs » siège parmi ces pairs FrequencyWords; la profondeur des fautes est suivie à part dans le graphique d'édition.

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).

échecs vs échos
67% similar
échecs vs échec
83% similar

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

Key facts for échecs
PropertyValue
Headwordéchecs
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\e.ʃɛk\
Letters6
Frequency rank#6,573
Misspellings tracked10
Confusable pairs2
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Fréquence de l'aimant d'erreurs « échecs »

La fréquence va de la poignée de mots du quotidien (gauche) à la longue queue presque jamais vue (droite).échecsse place ici:

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

L'échelle est logarithmique (chaque tic ≈ 10× plus rare). Dans la même bande de rareté figurent « violation » (#6,572), « éditeurs » (#6,574), « variétés » (#6,571). Parmi 1,805 lemmes en « É », « échecs » est au #6,573. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 10 spelling variants around échecs (IPA \e.ʃɛk\), anoun. Corpus frequency is #6,573 among 1,805 “É” headwords. Dominant gloss: "Jeu de stratégie millénaire opposant deux joueurs qui disposent chacun de seize pièces pour paralyser le roi adverse.".

Our generated misspelling index lists 10 likely wrong-spelling variants for échecs, with forms such as "céhecs", "echecs", and "écchecs". 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 2 confusable-pair relationships, "échos", "échec", since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

This entry's etymology isn't recorded, so its spelling is best explained by sound-to-letter mapping rather than etymology. The correct French form is échecs, spelled É-C-H-E-C-S.

Definition

  1. 1
    Jeu de stratégie millénaire opposant deux joueurs qui disposent chacun de seize pièces pour paralyser le roi adverse.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Au second été, Ardengo Baldi vint nous rejoindre ; c’est alors qu’il m’apprit les échecs. Rompu par Heldenbruck aux calculs de tête, je pris assez vite l’habitude de jouer sans regarder l’échiquier.
  2. Plus loin ce sont les jeux tranquilles : échecs, dames et quantité de jeux d’adresse ou de patience, dont certains que je ne connaissait pas, extrêmement ingénieux ; […].

Synonyms

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • céhecs
  • echecs
  • écchecs
  • écehcs
  • échces
  • écheccs
  • échecss
  • échesc
  • échhecs
  • éhcecs

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

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

céhecs2echecs1écchecs1écehcs2échces2écheccs1échecss1échesc2
Edit distance from "échecs"

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 "échecs"?
"échecs" is spelled É-C-H-E-C-S. The IPA pronunciation is \e.ʃɛk\.
What does "échecs" mean?
As a noun, "échecs" means: Jeu de stratégie millénaire opposant deux joueurs qui disposent chacun de seize pièces pour paralyser le roi adverse.
What words are commonly confused with "échecs"?
"échecs" is commonly confused with "échos", "échec". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "échecs"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "échecs" is \e.ʃɛk\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "échecs" come from?
"échecs" is a French word. PlainSpell covers definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German.
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 "échecs", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked French headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (10 here; floor ≥5).

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list