épier

\e.pje\

/\e.pje\/ verb

The verdict

“épier” has 7 generated spelling variants in the French index at frequency #49,447. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#49,447
frequency rank, French
1,805
“É” headwords
7
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Observer secrètement et avec attention les actions, les discours de quelqu’un, ou ce qui se passe quelque part.

Corpus desk

Index FR-epier · épier · French

épier · rank #49,447 · 7 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #49,447
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 7 variants
  • BOOK-MID 1,805
  • PHOTO-FINISH émit

Nearest frequency peer: émit (-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 « épier »

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

corpus weight

What this shows « épier » 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).

épier vs EPR
0% similar
épier vs ever
40% similar
épier vs épis
60% similar

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

Key facts for épier
PropertyValue
Headwordépier
LanguageFrench
Part of speechVerb
IPA\e.pje\
Letters5
Frequency rank#49,447
Misspellings tracked7
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Fréquence de l'aimant d'erreurs « épier »

La fréquence va de la poignée de mots du quotidien (gauche) à la longue queue presque jamais vue (droite).épierse 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 « émit » (#49,446), « épuisante » (#49,448), « élongation » (#49,445). Parmi 1,805 lemmes en « É », « épier » est au #49,447. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 7 spelling variants around épier (IPA \e.pje\), averb. Corpus frequency is #49,447 among 1,805 “É” headwords. Wiktionary lists 2 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 7 likely wrong-spelling variants for épier, with forms such as "epier", "péier", and "éiper". 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, "EPR", "ever", "épis", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Our source data has no etymology on file for this entry, leaving phoneme-to-grapheme mapping as the best guide to its spelling rather than a borrowing history. The correct French form is épier, spelled É-P-I-E-R.

Definition

  1. 1
    Observer secrètement et avec attention les actions, les discours de quelqu’un, ou ce qui se passe quelque part.
  2. 2
    Se tenir prêt à saisir l’occasion de faire quelque chose, à profiter du moment favorable.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. L'homme, qui était un garde-côte, comme le faisait voir sa cape d'uniforme, épiait toutes les manœuvres du trois-mâts et semblait en prendre note mentalement.
  2. […], j’appris qu’il était d’autres joies que celles d’épier sous un arbre l’approche d’un ramier ou de placer le soir sur un passage dans les taillis d’invisibles lacets.

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • epier
  • péier
  • éiper
  • épeir
  • épierr
  • épire
  • éppier

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

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

epier1péier2éiper2épeir2épierr1épire2éppier1
Edit distance from "épier"

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 "épier"?
"épier" is spelled É-P-I-E-R. The IPA pronunciation is \e.pje\.
What does "épier" mean?
As a verb, "épier" means: Observer secrètement et avec attention les actions, les discours de quelqu’un, ou ce qui se passe quelque part.
What words are commonly confused with "épier"?
"épier" is commonly confused with "EPR", "ever", "épis". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "épier"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "épier" is \e.pje\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "épier" come from?
"épier" 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 "épier", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

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

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (7 here; floor ≥5).

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list