gouvernant

\ɡu.vɛʁ.nɑ̃\

/\ɡu.vɛʁ.nɑ̃\/ adj

The verdict

“gouvernant” is uncommon French (frequency #50,862 among 2,617 “G” headwords), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#50,862
frequency rank, French
2,617
“G” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Qui gouverne.

Corpus desk

Index FR-gouvernant · gouvernant · French

gouvernant · rank #50,862 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #50,862
  • LEN-MEGA 10 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,617
  • PHOTO-FINISH gotta

Nearest frequency peer: gotta (-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.

Rangs de longue queue près de « gouvernant »

Bande clairsemée: les barres inversent le rang pour que le rare se lise plus court

corpus weight

What this shows Vue de longue queue: où « gouvernant » se situe face à des rangs français aussi rares.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for gouvernant
PropertyValue
Headwordgouvernant
LanguageFrench
Part of speechAdjective
IPA\ɡu.vɛʁ.nɑ̃\
Letters10
Frequency rank#50,862
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Longue queue: rang de « gouvernant » en français

De gauche à droite: le peu qui porte la parole quotidienne, puis la longue queue quasi invisible.gouvernanttombe dans cette queue de rareté:

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

L'échelle est logarithmique (chaque tic ≈ 10× plus rare). Voisins rares de la même bande: « gotta » (#50,861), « grad » (#50,863), « grandisse » (#50,864). Parmi 2,617 lemmes en « G », « gouvernant » est au #50,862. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

gouvernant is uncommon French at frequency #50,862 among 2,617 “G” headwords, classed as anadjective, transcribed \ɡu.vɛʁ.nɑ̃\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Qui gouverne.".

No misspelling variants are generated for gouvernant in our index, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. This headword has no recorded confusable partner, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.

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 gouvernant, spelled G-O-U-V-E-R-N-A-N-T.

Definition

  1. 1
    Qui gouverne.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. De là les progrès des beaux-arts dans ce quinzième siècle, où la liberté (entendez toujours la liberté d’alors, la liberté gouvernante et non jouissante) commençait si fort à languir.
  2. J’ai eu ici avant-hier en votre honneur un des chefs électoraux de la coterie gouvernante à l’Académie, M. de Lacretelle.

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 "gouvernant"?
"gouvernant" is spelled G-O-U-V-E-R-N-A-N-T. The IPA pronunciation is \ɡu.vɛʁ.nɑ̃\.
What does "gouvernant" mean?
As an adjective, "gouvernant" means: Qui gouverne.
How do you pronounce "gouvernant"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "gouvernant" is \ɡu.vɛʁ.nɑ̃\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "gouvernant" come from?
"gouvernant" 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 "gouvernant", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked French headwords with 10 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list