externe

\ɛks.tɛʁn\

/\ɛks.tɛʁn\/ adj

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

The verdict

“externe” has 10 generated spelling variants in the French index at frequency #4,576. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#4,576
frequency rank, French
3,255
“E” headwords
10
tracked misspellings
6
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Qui est, qui paraît au-dehors.

Corpus desk

Index FR-externe · externe · French

externe · rank #4,576 · 10 variants · 6 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #4,576
  • LEN-LONG 7 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-MID 6 pairs
  • VAR-MID 10 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,255
  • PHOTO-FINISH escalier

Nearest frequency peer: escalier (-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 « externe »

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

corpus weight

What this shows « externe » 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).

externe vs externes
88% similar
externe vs exercé
57% similar
externe vs éternel
57% similar

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

Key facts for externe
PropertyValue
Headwordexterne
LanguageFrench
Part of speechAdjective
IPA\ɛks.tɛʁn\
Letters7
Frequency rank#4,576
Misspellings tracked10
Confusable pairs6
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Fréquence de l'aimant d'erreurs « externe »

De gauche à droite: le peu qui porte la parole quotidienne, puis la longue queue quasi invisible.externese place ici:

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

L'axe est logarithmique: chaque tic marque environ dix fois moins de fréquence. Dans la même bande de rareté figurent « escalier » (#4,575), « faiblesse » (#4,577), « entouré » (#4,574). Parmi 3,255 lemmes en « E », « externe » est au #4,576. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 10 spelling variants around externe (IPA \ɛks.tɛʁn\), anadjective. Corpus frequency is #4,576 among 3,255 “E” headwords. Wiktionary lists 5 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 10 likely wrong-spelling variants for externe, with forms such as "etxerne", "exetrne", and "extenre". 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 6 confusable-pair relationships, "externes", "exercé", "éternel", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

No explicit etymology string is stored 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 externe, spelled E-X-T-E-R-N-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Qui est, qui paraît au-dehors.
  2. 2
    Qui vient du dehors.
  3. 3
    Qualifie des parties d’un organe qui sont tournées vers l’extérieur du corps.
  4. 4
    Extérieur
  5. 5
    Qualifie un écolier, collégien ou lycéen, qui n'est ni en pension, ni en demi-pension, dans l'établissement.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Maladie externe.
  2. Médicament pour l’usage externe.

This word in other languages

external(English)externo(Español)extern(Deutsch)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • etxerne
  • exetrne
  • extenre
  • exteren
  • externne
  • exterrne
  • extrene
  • extterne
  • exxterne
  • xeterne

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of externe - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.

etxerne2exetrne2extenre2exteren2externne1exterrne1extrene2extterne1
Edit distance from "externe"

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 "externe"?
"externe" is spelled E-X-T-E-R-N-E. The IPA pronunciation is \ɛks.tɛʁn\.
What does "externe" mean?
As an adjective, "externe" means: Qui est, qui paraît au-dehors.
What words are commonly confused with "externe"?
"externe" is commonly confused with "externes", "exercé", "éternel". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "externe"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "externe" is \ɛks.tɛʁn\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "externe" come from?
"externe" 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 "externe", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked French headwords with 7 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

entouré#4,574fournit#4,579globale#4,581manager#4,587

Similar misspelling depth

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

parlais10 variantsactuels10 variantsévoluer10 variantsraciste10 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list