éventail
\e.vɑ̃.taj\
The verdict
“éventail” is a moderately-common French word, ranked #12,701 in French word frequency and used as a noun.
- #12,701
- frequency rank, French
- 8
- letters
- 12
- tracked misspellings
- 1
- confusable pair
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Petit dispositif demi-circulaire, composé de lames légères d’ivoire, de nacre, de bois, etc., qui se replient les unes sur les autres, dont la partie supérieure est ordinairement recouverte de papi...
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | éventail |
| Language | French |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | \e.vɑ̃.taj\ |
| Letters | 8 |
| Frequency rank | #12,701 |
| Misspellings tracked | 12 |
| Confusable pairs | 1 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “éventail” sits in French frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The French entry for éventail is 8 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as \e.vɑ̃.taj\. Corpus data places it at rank #12,701 in overall French word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 5 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 12 likely wrong-spelling variants for éventail, with forms such as "eventail", "véentail", and "éevntail". 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 1 confusable-pair relationship, "éventuel", 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 easiest to reason about phoneme by phoneme, absent a documented history. The correct French form is éventail, spelled É-V-E-N-T-A-I-L.
Definition
- 1Petit dispositif demi-circulaire, composé de lames légères d’ivoire, de nacre, de bois, etc., qui se replient les unes sur les autres, dont la partie supérieure est ordinairement recouverte de papier, de taffetas ou de plumes, et dont on se sert pour s’éventer.
- 2Ensemble d'êtres ou de choses disposés comme en demi-cercle.
- 3Façon de tailler un arbre fruitier pour lui donner la forme d’un éventail ouvert.
- 4Gamme, large choix, palette ; par analogie avec le nuancier qui se déplie et replie comme un éventail.
- 5Groupe de coureurs placés en diagonale pour se protéger du vent.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: eventail,véentail,éevntail,évenatil,évenntail,éventaill,éventali,évential,éventtail,évetnail,évnetail,évventail
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of éventail - 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.
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 "éventail"?
What does "éventail" mean?
What words are commonly confused with "éventail"?
How do you pronounce "éventail"?
What language does "éventail" come from?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Using “éventail”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct French spelling is É-V-E-N-T-A-I-L - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as \e.vɑ̃.taj\ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “éventuel” - see the side-by-side comparison. éventail vs éventuel
- Browse more French words and confusable pairs in the same reference. French words
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.