ESP

\ø.ɛs.pe\

/\ø.ɛs.pe\/ noun

The verdict

“ESP” sits in 20 confusable pairs (corpus #18,197) as a noun. The look-alike neighbours are the real trap.

#18,197
frequency rank, French
3,255
“E” headwords
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Abréviation de électro-stabilisateur programmé ou Correcteur électronique de trajectoire

Corpus desk

Index FR-esp · ESP · French

ESP · rank #18,197 · 0 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #18,197
  • LEN-MID 3 letters
  • VOW-1 1 vowel
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,255
  • PHOTO-FINISH erronée

Nearest frequency peer: erronée (-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 “ESP”

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

corpus weight

What this shows Bars show where “ESP” 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).

ESP vs et
0% similar
ESP vs Eu
33% similar
ESP vs ez
0% similar

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

Key facts for ESP
PropertyValue
HeadwordESP
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\ø.ɛs.pe\
Letters3
Frequency rank#18,197
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Où “ESP” se place dans la fréquence du français

De gauche à droite: le peu qui porte la parole quotidienne, puis la longue queue quasi invisible.ESPse 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 « erronée » (#18,196), « exposant » (#18,198), « envier » (#18,195). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Easy to mix with look-alikes

The spelling risk for ESP is neighbouring look-alikes ("et", "Eu", …), not just typos; it is anoun pronounced \ø.ɛs.pe\. Frequency #18,197 among 3,255 “E” headwords. Gloss: "Abréviation de électro-stabilisateur programmé ou Correcteur électronique de trajectoire".

We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for ESP, a sign its spelling follows regular French conventions. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "et", "Eu", "ez", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Wiktionary doesn't record an etymology for this headword, so its spelling is best explained by sound-to-letter mapping rather than etymology. The correct French form is ESP, spelled E-S-P.

Definition

  1. 1
    Abréviation de électro-stabilisateur programmé ou Correcteur électronique de trajectoire

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Le calculateur de l' ABS (Anti Block System) et de l' ESP (Electronic Stability Program) pilote le boîtier ABS pour corriger la trajectoire et éviter de bloquer les roues en cas de freinage excessif du conducteur. Il gère simultanément les fonctions de freinage antiblocage et de stabilité en surveillant en temps réel la vitesse de rotation de chaque roue,…
  2. En effet, les systèmes de correction électronique de la trajectoire (ESP) ne fonctionnent que quand le véhicule est en contact avec la route.

This word in other languages

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 "ESP"?
"ESP" is spelled E-S-P. The IPA pronunciation is \ø.ɛs.pe\.
What does "ESP" mean?
As a noun, "ESP" means: Abréviation de électro-stabilisateur programmé ou Correcteur électronique de trajectoire
What words are commonly confused with "ESP"?
"ESP" is commonly confused with "et", "Eu", "ez". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "ESP"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "ESP" is \ø.ɛs.pe\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "ESP" come from?
"ESP" 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 "ESP", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

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

What to do next

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

  • "ESP" maps to 20 confusable pairs in this vintage; the highest-scored is "et". View pair
  • Usage frequency rank #18,197 among French headwords in this corpus. Corpus statistics
  • Browse more French words in the "E" letter cohort. E–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