gnome
\ɡnom\
The verdict
“gnome” is a moderately-common French word, ranked #27,461 in French word frequency and used as a noun.
- #27,461
- frequency rank, French
- 5
- letters
- 7
- tracked misspellings
- 14
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Génie de la terre, laid et de très petite taille, considéré comme le gardien des trésors enfouis, des mines, des pierres précieuses.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | gnome |
| Language | French |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | \ɡnom\ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #27,461 |
| Misspellings tracked | 7 |
| Confusable pairs | 14 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “gnome” sits in French frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The French entry for gnome is 5 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as \ɡnom\. Corpus data places it at rank #27,461 in overall French word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 2 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 gnome, with forms such as "ggnome", "gnmoe", and "gnnome". 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 14 confusable-pair relationships, "gore", "gode", "gone", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Wiktionary doesn't record an etymology for this headword, so its spelling pattern is best understood through pronunciation rather than a traceable origin. The correct French form is gnome, spelled G-N-O-M-E.
Definition
- 1Génie de la terre, laid et de très petite taille, considéré comme le gardien des trésors enfouis, des mines, des pierres précieuses.
- 2Homme de très petite taille et difforme.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: ggnome,gnmoe,gnnome,gnoem,gnomme,gonme,ngome
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of gnome - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.
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
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Using “gnome”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct French spelling is G-N-O-M-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as \ɡnom\ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “gore” - see the side-by-side comparison. gnome vs gore
- 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.