éclairer

\e.kle.ʁe\

/\e.kle.ʁe\/ verb

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

The verdict

“éclairer” has 12 generated spelling variants in the French index at frequency #9,420. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#9,420
frequency rank, French
1,805
“É” headwords
12
tracked misspellings
11
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Apporter de la lumière dans un endroit sombre.

Corpus desk

Index FR-eclairer · éclairer · French

éclairer · rank #9,420 · 12 variants · 11 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #9,420
  • LEN-LONG 8 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-MID 11 pairs
  • VAR-MID 12 variants
  • BOOK-MID 1,805
  • PHOTO-FINISH échéance

Nearest frequency peer: échéance (-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 « éclairer »

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

corpus weight

What this shows « éclairer » 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).

éclairer vs éclater
75% similar
éclairer vs éclairs
75% similar
éclairer vs éclaireur
89% similar

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

Key facts for éclairer
PropertyValue
Headwordéclairer
LanguageFrench
Part of speechVerb
IPA\e.kle.ʁe\
Letters8
Frequency rank#9,420
Misspellings tracked12
Confusable pairs11
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Fréquence de l'aimant d'erreurs « éclairer »

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

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

Les tics avancent en logarithme; chacun est de l'ordre de dix fois plus rare. Dans la même bande de rareté figurent « échéance » (#9,419), « étroit » (#9,421), « écarts » (#9,418). Parmi 1,805 lemmes en « É », « éclairer » est au #9,420. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 12 spelling variants around éclairer (IPA \e.kle.ʁe\), averb. Corpus frequency is #9,420 among 1,805 “É” headwords. Wiktionary lists 8 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 12 likely wrong-spelling variants for éclairer, with forms such as "célairer", "eclairer", and "écalirer". 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 11 confusable-pair relationships, "éclater", "éclairs", "éclaireur", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

No documented word history exists for this headword, leaving phoneme-to-grapheme mapping as the best guide to its spelling rather than a borrowing history. The correct French form is éclairer, spelled É-C-L-A-I-R-E-R.

Definition

  1. 1
    Apporter de la lumière dans un endroit sombre.
  2. 2
    Apporter ou fournir une source de lumière à quelqu’un.
  3. 3
    Rendre compréhensible une idée, un concept. Faire comprendre à quelqu'un.
  4. 4
    Distribuer des lumières d’un tableau, y répandre des clairs avec intelligence.
  5. 5
    Aller au devant d’une troupe pour voir le terrain.
  6. 6
    ou Allumer (un appareil d'éclairage).
  7. 7
    Répandre de la clarté.
  8. 8
    Faire des éclairs, en parlant de la foudre.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Une lampe hydrostatique éclairait cette scène.
  2. La veilleuse éclairait Carmen d’une pâle lueur rose.

Synonyms

illuminer

Antonyms

assombrir

This word in other languages

light up(English)iluminar(Español)erleuchten(Deutsch)iluminar(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • célairer
  • eclairer
  • écalirer
  • écclairer
  • éclaierr
  • éclairerr
  • éclairre
  • éclairrer
  • éclarier
  • écliarer
  • écllairer
  • élcairer

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of éclairer - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.

célairer2eclairer1écalirer2écclairer1éclaierr2éclairerr1éclairre2éclairrer1
Edit distance from "éclairer"

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 "éclairer"?
"éclairer" is spelled É-C-L-A-I-R-E-R. The IPA pronunciation is \e.kle.ʁe\.
What does "éclairer" mean?
As a verb, "éclairer" means: Apporter de la lumière dans un endroit sombre.
What words are commonly confused with "éclairer"?
"éclairer" is commonly confused with "éclater", "éclairs", "éclaireur". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "éclairer"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "éclairer" is \e.kle.ʁe\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "éclairer" come from?
"éclairer" 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 "éclairer", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked French headwords with 8 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

échéance#9,419végétaux#9,413Anderson#9,428voltaire#9,412

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (12 here; floor ≥5).

revenant12 variantsengagent12 variantspatrouille12 variantsexposées12 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list