festhalten

\ˈfɛstˌhaltn̩\

/\ˈfɛstˌhaltn̩\/ verb

The verdict

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

Unranked
below top-frequency French
10
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Retenir, maintenir, empêcher quelqu'un ou quelque chose de bouger ou de partir.

Corpus desk

Index FR-festhalten · festhalten · French

festhalten · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-MEGA 10 letters
  • VOW-3 3 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.

Key facts for festhalten
PropertyValue
Headwordfesthalten
LanguageFrench
Part of speechVerb
IPA\ˈfɛstˌhaltn̩\
Letters10
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Longue queue: rang de « festhalten » en français

festhaltenreste hors des 100.000 mots français les plus fréquents, dans la longue queue du vocabulaire technique, archaïque ou rare, là où le doute d'orthographe frappe.

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

Rare enough to double-check

festhalten is uncommon French outside the top frequency list, classed as averb, transcribed \ˈfɛstˌhaltn̩\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 4 senses are on record.

Zero misspellings are on record for festhalten in our index, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.

Our source data has no etymology on file for this entry, so its spelling is easiest to reason about phoneme by phoneme, absent a documented history. The correct French form is festhalten, spelled F-E-S-T-H-A-L-T-E-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    Retenir, maintenir, empêcher quelqu'un ou quelque chose de bouger ou de partir.
  2. 2
    Se retenir, s'accrocher.
  3. 3
    Constater, faire remarquer quelque chose, documenter, noter.
  4. 4
    Rester attaché à quelque chose.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Doch zwischen der Situation der Frauen und der der Schwarzen gibt es tiefgreifende Analogien: die einen wie die anderen emanzipieren sich heute von derselben Bevormundung, und die bisherige Herrenkaste will sie dort festhalten, «wo sie hingehören», d.h. auf dem Platz, den sie ihnen zugedacht hat.
  2. (Li Rui) prangerte Mao Zedongs verheerende Kampagne des «Grossen Sprungs nach vorn» an, die eine katastrophale Hungersnot auslöste, oder er hielt trocken fest, der heutige Staats- und Parteichef Xi Jinping sei von bescheidenem Bildungsniveau.

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 "festhalten"?
"festhalten" is spelled F-E-S-T-H-A-L-T-E-N. The IPA pronunciation is \ˈfɛstˌhaltn̩\.
What does "festhalten" mean?
As a verb, "festhalten" means: Retenir, maintenir, empêcher quelqu'un ou quelque chose de bouger ou de partir.
How do you pronounce "festhalten"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "festhalten" is \ˈfɛstˌhaltn̩\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "festhalten" come from?
"festhalten" 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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list