ferme

/\fɛʁm\/ adj

Letters

5 characters

Frequency Rank

#1,138

in French word usage

Misspellings

7

tracked variants

Confusables

20

similar word pairs

ferme is anFrenchadj. It means: Qui a de la consistance, qui offre une certaine résistance. Pronounced \fɛʁm\. It ranks #1,138 in French word frequency. Often confused with fête and free.

Key facts for ferme
PropertyValue
Headwordferme
LanguageFrench
Part of speechAdj
IPA\fɛʁm\
Letters5
Frequency rank#1,138
Misspellings tracked7
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency rank visualization

Position of ferme in French word frequency (lower rank = more common)

Source: Wordfreq corpus

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The French entry for ferme is 5 letters long, classified as anadj, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as \fɛʁm\. Corpus data places it at rank #1,138 in overall French word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text.Wiktionary records 11 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our Hunspell-derived misspelling index lists 7 documented wrong-spelling variants for ferme, with forms such as "efrme", "femre", and "ferem". Each variant represents a distinct typo pattern that appears often enough in corpora to be worth flagging, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution.It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "fête", "free", "fume", 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, so spelling patterns must be inferred from the word's phoneme-to-grapheme mapping rather than from a documented borrowing chain. For readers arriving here from a spelling check, the authoritative guidance is: the correct French form is ferme, spelled F-E-R-M-E, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.

Definition

  1. 1
    Qui a de la consistance, qui offre une certaine résistance.
  2. 2
    Qui tient fixement.
  3. 3
    Dont les propriétés sont stables.
  4. 4
    Qui se tient solidement, qui ne chancelle pas.
  5. 5
    Vigoureux, fort, en bonne santé
  6. 6
    Qui a le caractère de la vigueur, désigne une manière d’exécuter vigoureuse et hardie.
  7. 7
    Qui a de la solidité morale, qui ne se laisse ni changer ni détourner ; constant, invariable, inébranlable.
  8. 8
    Qui ne se laisse point abattre par l’adversité, intimider par le péril.
  9. 9
    Se dit des choses en un sens analogue, de la volonté, l'espérance, la foi…
  10. 10
    Solide, assuré ; qui n'hésite ni ne tremble.
  11. 11
    Stable, dépourvu de variations.

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: efrme,femre,ferem,fermme,ferrme,fferme,freme

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

Relative frequency of common misspelling types for ferme

Misspelling Variants of "ferme"

efrme5femre5ferem5fermme6ferrme6fferme6freme5
Misspelling Variants of "ferme"

Frequency rank: #1,138 in French

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "ferme"?
"ferme" is spelled F-E-R-M-E. The IPA pronunciation is \fɛʁm\.
What does "ferme" mean?
As an adj, "ferme" means: Qui a de la consistance, qui offre une certaine résistance.
What words are commonly confused with "ferme"?
"ferme" is commonly confused with "fête", "free", "fume". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "ferme"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "ferme" is \fɛʁm\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "ferme" come from?
"ferme" 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.

Nearby French words

Other entries that begin with the letter F in our French index:

Explore PlainSpell

Data Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Frequency data from Wordfreq. Misspellings derived from Hunspell dictionaries.