forain

\fɔ.ʁɛ̃\

/\fɔ.ʁɛ̃\/ adj

The verdict

“forain” has 8 generated spelling variants in the French index at frequency #40,770. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#40,770
frequency rank, French
3,276
“F” headwords
8
tracked misspellings
19
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Qui n’est pas du lieu, étranger.

Corpus desk

Index FR-forain · forain · French

forain · rank #40,770 · 8 variants · 19 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #40,770
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 19 pairs
  • VAR-MID 8 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,276
  • PHOTO-FINISH foisonnement

Nearest frequency peer: foisonnement (-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 « forain »

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

corpus weight

What this shows « forain » 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).

forain vs frais
67% similar
forain vs frein
67% similar
forain vs fortin
83% similar

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

Key facts for forain
PropertyValue
Headwordforain
LanguageFrench
Part of speechAdjective
IPA\fɔ.ʁɛ̃\
Letters6
Frequency rank#40,770
Misspellings tracked8
Confusable pairs19
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Fréquence de l'aimant d'erreurs « forain »

Cette échelle va du noyau du français courant (gauche) jusqu'à la traîne des formes rares (droite).forainse place ici:

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

L'échelle est logarithmique (chaque tic ≈ 10× plus rare). Dans la même bande de rareté figurent « foisonnement » (#40,769), « formèrent » (#40,771), « flottait » (#40,768). Parmi 3,276 lemmes en « F », « forain » est au #40,770. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 8 spelling variants around forain (IPA \fɔ.ʁɛ̃\), anadjective. Corpus frequency is #40,770 among 3,276 “F” headwords. Wiktionary lists 4 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 8 likely wrong-spelling variants for forain, with forms such as "fforain", "foarin", and "forainn". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 19 confusable-pair relationships, "frais", "frein", "fortin", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

No explicit etymology string is stored for this entry, so its spelling pattern is best understood through pronunciation rather than a traceable origin. The correct French form is forain, spelled F-O-R-A-I-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    Qui n’est pas du lieu, étranger.
  2. 2
    Extérieur, qualifie un lieu de mouillage en dehors d’un port.
  3. 3
    Relatif à une foire, qui accompagne ; qui fréquente les foires.
  4. 4
    Relatif aux marchands forains.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Le droit de faire la traite fut réservé aux domiciliés, à ceux qui avaient fait souche. … Cette décision marquait un premier écart envers la tutelle de la mère patrie. Elle peut être considérée comme le point de départ de la lutte épisodique, mais qui dura cent ans, entre les forains et les domiciliés.
  2. Saisie foraine, saisie des effets mobiliers d’un débiteur de passage, étranger à la commune.

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • fforain
  • foarin
  • forainn
  • forani
  • forian
  • forrain
  • froain
  • ofrain

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of forain - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.

fforain1foarin2forainn1forani2forian2forrain1froain2ofrain2
Edit distance from "forain"

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 "forain"?
"forain" is spelled F-O-R-A-I-N. The IPA pronunciation is \fɔ.ʁɛ̃\.
What does "forain" mean?
As an adjective, "forain" means: Qui n’est pas du lieu, étranger.
What words are commonly confused with "forain"?
"forain" is commonly confused with "frais", "frein", "fortin". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "forain"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "forain" is \fɔ.ʁɛ̃\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "forain" come from?
"forain" 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.

Similar French words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "forain", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

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

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (8 here; floor ≥5).

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list