fermer à clé
\fɛʁ.me a kle\
The verdict
“fermer à clé” is uncommon French (outside the top frequency list), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency French
- 12
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Se servir d’une clé pour verrouiller une porte, une armoire, etc.
Corpus desk
Index FR-fermer-a-cle · fermer à clé · French
fermer à clé · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-MEGA 12 letters
- VOW-4 4 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "F" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
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.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | fermer à clé |
| Language | French |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | \fɛʁ.me a kle\ |
| Letters | 12 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Longue queue: rang de « fermer à clé » en français
Rare enough to double-check
fermer à clé is uncommon French outside the top frequency list, classed as averb, transcribed \fɛʁ.me a kle\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Se servir d’une clé pour verrouiller une porte, une armoire, etc.".
No misspelling variants are generated for fermer à clé in our index, suggesting the orthography follows predictable French patterns. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.
Wiktionary doesn't record an etymology 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 à clé, spelled F-E-R-M-E-R- -À- -C-L-É.
Definition
- 1Se servir d’une clé pour verrouiller une porte, une armoire, etc.
Recorded use
Wiktionary exampleThese source excerpts show how fermer à clé appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Hervé les avait vus distinctement tracasser la grille et un grincement de ferrailles lui apprit qu'ils l’avaient fermé à clé, derrière eux, après l’avoir ouverte en arrivant, et qu'ils étaient en train de la rouvrir pour s’en aller.
This word in other languages
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.