frêne

\fʁɛn\

/\fʁɛn\/ noun

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

The verdict

“frêne” has 8 generated spelling variants in the French index at frequency #29,364. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#29,364
frequency rank, French
3,276
“F” headwords
8
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Genre (Fraxinus) d’arbres forestiers de la famille des oléacées, surtout des forêts tempérées, aux feuilles composées, et aux grappes de samares simples surnommées localement « langues d’oiseau ».

Corpus desk

Index FR-frene · frêne · French

frêne · rank #29,364 · 8 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #29,364
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 8 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,276
  • PHOTO-FINISH fréquentait

Nearest frequency peer: fréquentait (-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 « frêne »

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

corpus weight

What this shows « frêne » 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).

frêne vs frère
60% similar
frêne vs front
60% similar
frêne vs Freud
20% similar

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

Key facts for frêne
PropertyValue
Headwordfrêne
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\fʁɛn\
Letters5
Frequency rank#29,364
Misspellings tracked8
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Fréquence de l'aimant d'erreurs « frêne »

De gauche à droite: le peu qui porte la parole quotidienne, puis la longue queue quasi invisible.frênese 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 « fréquentait » (#29,363), « fusible » (#29,365), « franchie » (#29,362). Parmi 3,276 lemmes en « F », « frêne » est au #29,364. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 8 spelling variants around frêne (IPA \fʁɛn\), anoun. Corpus frequency is #29,364 among 3,276 “F” headwords. Wiktionary lists 3 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 8 likely wrong-spelling variants for frêne, with forms such as "ffrêne", "frene", and "frnêe". 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, "frère", "front", "Freud", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

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 frêne, spelled F-R-Ê-N-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Genre (Fraxinus) d’arbres forestiers de la famille des oléacées, surtout des forêts tempérées, aux feuilles composées, et aux grappes de samares simples surnommées localement « langues d’oiseau ».
  2. 2
    Genre (Fraxinus) d’arbres forestiers de la famille des oléacées, surtout des forêts tempérées, aux feuilles composées, et aux grappes de samares simples surnommées localement « langues d’oiseau ».
  3. 3
    Bois de cet arbre, dur et élastique.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. La capitale du nord n’a pas le moindre monument, mais elle se glorifie de posséder un arbre, le seul qu’il y ait en Islande ; c’est un frêne d’environ cinq mètres de haut, ombrageant la façade d’une maison tournée vers le fjord. Les indigènes en sont extrêmement fiers et le montrent comme la grande curiosité du pays.
  2. Le jour, la rue Rataud est embaumée par l’odeur des frênes qui surplombent le mur décrépit de l’École Normale Supérieure.

This word in other languages

ash(English)fresno(Español)Esche(Deutsch)freixo(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • ffrêne
  • frene
  • frnêe
  • frrêne
  • frêen
  • frênne
  • fêrne
  • rfêne

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of frêne - 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.

ffrêne1frene1frnêe2frrêne1frêen2frênne1fêrne2rfêne2
Edit distance from "frêne"

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 "frêne"?
"frêne" is spelled F-R-Ê-N-E. The IPA pronunciation is \fʁɛn\.
What does "frêne" mean?
As a noun, "frêne" means: Genre (Fraxinus) d’arbres forestiers de la famille des oléacées, surtout des forêts tempérées, aux feuilles composées, et aux grappes de samares simples surnommées localement « langues d’oiseau ».
What words are commonly confused with "frêne"?
"frêne" is commonly confused with "frère", "front", "Freud". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "frêne"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "frêne" is \fʁɛn\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "frêne" come from?
"frêne" 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 "frêne", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked French headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Fargo#29,355Eudes#29,351impro#29,390Dutch#29,322

Similar misspelling depth

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

gamelle8 variantsgouter8 variantshernie8 variantsherrera8 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list