forain

/\fɔ.ʁɛ̃\/ adj

Letters

6 characters

Frequency Rank

#40,770

in French word usage

Misspellings

8

tracked variants

Confusables

19

similar word pairs

forain is anFrenchadj. It means: Qui n’est pas du lieu, étranger. Pronounced \fɔ.ʁɛ̃\. Often confused with frais and frein.

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

Frequency rank visualization

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

Source: Wordfreq corpus

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The French entry for forain is 6 letters long, classified as anadj, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as \fɔ.ʁɛ̃\. Corpus data places it at rank #40,770 in overall French word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it.Wiktionary records 4 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our Hunspell-derived misspelling index lists 8 documented wrong-spelling variants for forain, with forms such as "fforain", "foarin", and "forainn". 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 19 confusable-pair relationships, "frais", "frein", "fortin", 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 forain, spelled F-O-R-A-I-N, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.

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.

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: fforain,foarin,forainn,forani,forian,forrain,froain,ofrain

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

Relative frequency of common misspelling types for forain

Misspelling Variants of "forain"

fforain7foarin6forainn7forani6forian6forrain7froain6ofrain6
Misspelling Variants of "forain"

Frequency rank: #40,770 in French

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 adj, "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 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.