faux départ

\fo de.paʁ\

/\fo de.paʁ\/ noun

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

The verdict

“faux départ” is uncommon French (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency French
11
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Départ d’un coureur qui part avant le signal de départ.

Key facts for faux départ
PropertyValue
Headwordfaux départ
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\fo de.paʁ\
Letters11
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “faux départ” sits in French frequency

faux départ falls outside the top-100,000 ranked French words, the long-tail zone of technical, archaic, or low-frequency vocabulary, exactly where readers second-guess spellings most.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

faux départ is uncommon French outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed \fo de.paʁ\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.

No misspelling variants are generated for faux départ in our index, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.

No borrowing history is documented for this entry, so spelling patterns must be inferred from the word's phoneme-to-grapheme mapping rather than from a documented borrowing chain. The correct French form is faux départ, spelled F-A-U-X- -D-É-P-A-R-T.

Definition

  1. 1
    Départ d’un coureur qui part avant le signal de départ.
  2. 2
    Départ avant que celui-ci soit autorisé.
  3. 3
    Essai manqué, qu’il faut recommencer.

This word in other languages

false start(English)Fehlstart(Deutsch)

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "faux départ"?
"faux départ" is spelled F-A-U-X- -D-É-P-A-R-T. The IPA pronunciation is \fo de.paʁ\.
What does "faux départ" mean?
As a noun, "faux départ" means: Départ d’un coureur qui part avant le signal de départ.
How do you pronounce "faux départ"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "faux départ" is \fo de.paʁ\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "faux départ" come from?
"faux départ" 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.

Using “faux départ”

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

  • The one correct French spelling is F-A-U-X- -D-É-P-A-R-T - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as \fo de.paʁ\ (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
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