fermer

\fɛʁ.me\

/\fɛʁ.me\/ verb

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

The verdict

“fermer” has 9 generated spelling variants in the French index at frequency #2,424. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#2,424
frequency rank, French
3,276
“F” headwords
9
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Clore ce qui était ouvert, par une porte, un couvercle, une trappe, etc.

Corpus desk

Index FR-fermer · fermer · French

fermer · rank #2,424 · 9 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #2,424
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 9 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,276
  • PHOTO-FINISH exprimer

Nearest frequency peer: exprimer (-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 « fermer »

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

corpus weight

What this shows « fermer » 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).

fermer vs forme
67% similar
fermer vs fumer
67% similar
fermer vs firme
67% similar

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

Key facts for fermer
PropertyValue
Headwordfermer
LanguageFrench
Part of speechVerb
IPA\fɛʁ.me\
Letters6
Frequency rank#2,424
Misspellings tracked9
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Fréquence de l'aimant d'erreurs « fermer »

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

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

Les tics avancent en logarithme; chacun est de l'ordre de dix fois plus rare. Dans la même bande de rareté figurent « exprimer » (#2,423), « Hausse » (#2,425), « excuse » (#2,422). Parmi 3,276 lemmes en « F », « fermer » est au #2,424. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 9 spelling variants around fermer (IPA \fɛʁ.me\), averb. Corpus frequency is #2,424 among 3,276 “F” headwords. Wiktionary lists 13 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 9 likely wrong-spelling variants for fermer, with forms such as "efrmer", "femrer", and "feremr". 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 20 confusable-pair relationships, "forme", "fumer", "firme", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

No documented word history exists for this headword, leaving phoneme-to-grapheme mapping as the best guide to its spelling rather than a borrowing history. The correct French form is fermer, spelled F-E-R-M-E-R.

Definition

  1. 1
    Clore ce qui était ouvert, par une porte, un couvercle, une trappe, etc.
  2. 2
    Clore un édifice, un établissement, un lieu de réunion, etc., en vue d'interrompre ce qui s'y faisait, momentanément ou définitivement.
  3. 3
    Interdire ; mettre en interdiction.
  4. 4
    Cesser un commerce, une occupation.
  5. 5
    Boucher une ouverture, une entrée, un passage et se dit en parlant des objets qui servent à la clôture.
  6. 6
    Interrompre un passage, le rendre impossible ou très difficile.
  7. 7
    Empêcher, par une résistance, par une défense quelconque, l’accès, l’entrée ou la sortie.
  8. 8
    Enclore.
  9. 9
    Rapprocher l’une contre l'autre des parties dont l’écartement formait une ouverture.
  10. 10
    Clore, arrêter, terminer.
  11. 11
    Être clos, se clore.
  12. 12
    Éteindre.
  13. 13
    Se renfermer sur soi-même, stopper tout dialogue.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Si une pompe était parfaite, que la garniture du piston contint entièrement l'eau, que les soupapes fermassent hermétiquement, et qu'elles fermassent instantanément dès que le piston aurait atteint le haut de sa course, on obtiendrait, à chaque relevée, un volume d'eau égal au solide engendré par la base du piston dans son ascension.
  2. Elle vit plusieurs fois s’ouvrir et se fermer la porte, et à chaque fois, par l’entrebâillement, elle aperçut Catherine rajeunie par l’action, […].

Synonyms

clore

Antonyms

ouvrir

This word in other languages

close(English)cerrar(Español)schließen(Deutsch)fechar(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • efrmer
  • femrer
  • feremr
  • fermerr
  • fermmer
  • fermre
  • ferrmer
  • ffermer
  • fremer

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of fermer - 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.

efrmer2femrer2feremr2fermerr1fermmer1fermre2ferrmer1ffermer1
Edit distance from "fermer"

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 "fermer"?
"fermer" is spelled F-E-R-M-E-R. The IPA pronunciation is \fɛʁ.me\.
What does "fermer" mean?
As a verb, "fermer" means: Clore ce qui était ouvert, par une porte, un couvercle, une trappe, etc.
What words are commonly confused with "fermer"?
"fermer" is commonly confused with "forme", "fumer", "firme". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "fermer"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "fermer" is \fɛʁ.me\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "fermer" come from?
"fermer" 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 "fermer", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked French headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Hausse#2,425excuse#2,422couper#2,418mairie#2,430

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (9 here; floor ≥5).

passent9 variantsarbres9 variantspuissant9 variantsrésumé9 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list