families

\ˈfæm.ə.liz\

/\ˈfæm.ə.liz\/ noun

The verdict

“families” is uncommon French (frequency #69,080 among 137,178 “F” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#69,080
frequency rank, French
137,178
“F” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Pluriel de family.

Key facts for families
PropertyValue
Headwordfamilies
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\ˈfæm.ə.liz\
Letters8
Frequency rank#69,080
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “families” sits in French frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). families lands here:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

families is uncommon French at frequency #69,080 among 137,178 “F” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed \ˈfæm.ə.liz\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Pluriel de family.".

We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for families, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. No confusable counterpart is on file for this word, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.

No explicit etymology string is stored for this entry, so its spelling is easiest to reason about phoneme by phoneme, absent a documented history. The correct French form is families, spelled F-A-M-I-L-I-E-S.

Definition

  1. 1
    Pluriel de family.

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 "families"?
"families" is spelled F-A-M-I-L-I-E-S. The IPA pronunciation is \ˈfæm.ə.liz\.
What does "families" mean?
As a noun, "families" means: Pluriel de family.
How do you pronounce "families"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "families" is \ˈfæm.ə.liz\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "families" come from?
"families" is a French word. PlainSpell covers definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German.
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.

Using “families”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct French spelling is F-A-M-I-L-I-E-S - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as \ˈfæm.ə.liz\ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
  • Browse more French words and confusable pairs in the same reference. French words

Other uncommon French words near this rank

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