frère

\fʁɛʁ\

/\fʁɛʁ\/ noun

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

The verdict

“frère” is in the everyday core of French, ranked #542 in French word frequency and used as a noun.

#542
frequency rank, French
5
letters
8
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Homme ou garçon enfant du même père et de la même mère qu’un ou plusieurs autre(s) individu(s) ; membre masculin d’une adelphie.

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

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

frère vs Freud
20% similar
frère vs frise
60% similar
frère vs frite
60% similar

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

Key facts for frère
PropertyValue
Headwordfrère
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\fʁɛʁ\
Letters5
Frequency rank#542
Misspellings tracked8
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “frère” 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). frère 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 frère is 5 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as \fʁɛʁ\. Corpus data places it at rank #542 in overall French word frequency, putting it firmly in the everyday core of the language. Wiktionary records 8 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our generated misspelling index lists 8 likely wrong-spelling variants for frère, with forms such as "ffrère", "frere", and "frrèe". 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 20 confusable-pair relationships, "Freud", "frise", "frite", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

No borrowing history is documented for this entry, so its spelling is easiest to reason about phoneme by phoneme, absent a documented history. The correct French form is frère, spelled F-R-È-R-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Homme ou garçon enfant du même père et de la même mère qu’un ou plusieurs autre(s) individu(s) ; membre masculin d’une adelphie.
  2. 2
    Tous les hommes en général comme étant tous sortis d’un même père et d’une même mère, comme étant tous de la même espèce.
  3. 3
    Tous les chrétiens, comme étant tous enfants de Dieu par le baptême.
  4. 4
    Compagnon d’une même cause.
  5. 5
    Choses qui ont entre elles une ressemblance, une communauté au moins apparente. Utilisé seulement pour les noms masculins.
  6. 6
    Terme religieux marquant l’appartenance à un ordre.
  7. 7
    Membre d’un clan, d'une confrérie, etc.
  8. 8
    ou Forme d’adresse amicale, parfois non-genré, → voir frère

Synonyms

fratèfranginfrelotfrérotreufreufréamicamaradecompagnonconfrèrecopainégal

This word in other languages

brother(English)hermano(Español)Bruder(Deutsch)irmão(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: ffrère,frere,frrèe,frrère,frèer,frèrre,fèrre,rfère

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

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

ffrère1frere1frrèe2frrère1frèer2frèrre1fèrre2rfère2
Edit distance from "frère"

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 "frère"?
"frère" is spelled F-R-È-R-E. The IPA pronunciation is \fʁɛʁ\.
What does "frère" mean?
As a noun, "frère" means: Homme ou garçon enfant du même père et de la même mère qu’un ou plusieurs autre(s) individu(s) ; membre masculin d’une adelphie.
What words are commonly confused with "frère"?
"frère" is commonly confused with "Freud", "frise", "frite". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "frère"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "frère" is \fʁɛʁ\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "frère" come from?
"frère" 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 “frère”

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

  • The one correct French spelling is F-R-È-R-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as \fʁɛʁ\ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
  • Don't mix it up with “Freud” - see the side-by-side comparison. frère vs Freud
  • 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