foyer

\fwa.je\

/\fwa.je\/ noun

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

The verdict

“foyer” is a regularly-used French word, ranked #3,260 in French word frequency and used as a noun.

#3,260
frequency rank, French
5
letters
7
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - (Selon certains auteurs) Partie d’une cheminée se trouvant au devant de l’âtre (on brûle le bois), Il se trouve donc en dehors des jambages de la cheminée. Il est souvent constitué de pierres ou de...

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

foyer vs fumer
60% similar
foyer vs fuyez
60% similar
foyer vs foyers
83% similar

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

Key facts for foyer
PropertyValue
Headwordfoyer
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\fwa.je\
Letters5
Frequency rank#3,260
Misspellings tracked7
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “foyer” sits in French frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). foyer lands here:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The French entry for foyer is 5 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as \fwa.je\. Corpus data places it at rank #3,260 in overall French word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 16 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our generated misspelling index lists 7 likely wrong-spelling variants for foyer, with forms such as "ffoyer", "foeyr", and "foyerr". 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, "fumer", "fuyez", "foyers", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

No borrowing history is documented for this entry, so its spelling is best read as a straightforward mapping from sound to letter. The correct French form is foyer, spelled F-O-Y-E-R.

Definition

  1. 1
    (Selon certains auteurs) Partie d’une cheminée se trouvant au devant de l’âtre (on brûle le bois), Il se trouve donc en dehors des jambages de la cheminée. Il est souvent constitué de pierres ou de briques si le sol de la pièce est en parquet.
  2. 2
    (Selon d’autres auteurs) Synonyme d’âtre.
  3. 3
    Partie d’un poêle, d’un fourneau où se fait le feu.
  4. 4
    Partie d’un poêle, d’un fourneau où se fait le feu.
  5. 5
    Feu qui brûle dans le foyer.
  6. 6
    Salle commune d’un théâtre, d’une salle de spectacle, où se rassemblent les acteurs et celle où les spectateurs peuvent se rendre pour passer le temps des entractes, pour converser et où ils se rendaient autrefois pour se chauffer.
  7. 7
    Maison, demeure familiale, pays natal.
  8. 8
    Centre, source.
  9. 9
    Point possédant des propriétés particulières pour l’étude de certaines courbes.
  10. 10
    Point commun à tous les rayons sortant d’un système optique lorsque tous les rayons entrants sont parallèles à l’axe optique du système.
  11. 11
    Siège principal d’une maladie.
  12. 12
    Se dit d’un lieu d’où rayonne, un problème ou un danger.
  13. 13
    Centre ; lieu principal.
  14. 14
    Salle, dans un lycée, où les élèves peuvent se détendre ; un même type de salle pour les enseignants.
  15. 15
    Focus.
  16. 16
    Résidence pour personnes âgées.

Synonyms

âtrecheminéefeupoêle à boisfocalemaison des lycéenssalle des professeurs

This word in other languages

hearth(English)hogar(Español)Feuerstelle(Deutsch)lareira(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: ffoyer,foeyr,foyerr,foyre,foyyer,fyoer,ofyer

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of foyer - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.

ffoyer1foeyr2foyerr1foyre2foyyer1fyoer2ofyer2
Edit distance from "foyer"

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 "foyer"?
"foyer" is spelled F-O-Y-E-R. The IPA pronunciation is \fwa.je\.
What does "foyer" mean?
As a noun, "foyer" means: (Selon certains auteurs) Partie d’une cheminée se trouvant au devant de l’âtre (on brûle le bois), Il se trouve donc en dehors des jambages de la cheminée. Il est souvent constitué de pierres ou de...
What words are commonly confused with "foyer"?
"foyer" is commonly confused with "fumer", "fuyez", "foyers". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "foyer"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "foyer" is \fwa.je\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "foyer" come from?
"foyer" 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.

Using “foyer”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct French spelling is F-O-Y-E-R - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as \fwa.je\ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
  • Don't mix it up with “fumer” - see the side-by-side comparison. foyer vs fumer
  • Browse more French words and confusable pairs in the same reference. French words
Data Source

Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list