guide

\ɡid\

/\ɡid\/ noun

The verdict

“guide” is a regularly-used French word, ranked #2,577 in French word frequency and used as a noun.

#2,577
frequency rank, French
5
letters
6
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Celui, celle qui conduit une personne et, l’accompagnant, lui montre le chemin.

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

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

guide vs guise
80% similar
guide vs Guido
60% similar
guide vs guinée
67% similar

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

Key facts for guide
PropertyValue
Headwordguide
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\ɡid\
Letters5
Frequency rank#2,577
Misspellings tracked6
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “guide” 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). guide 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 guide is 5 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as \ɡid\. Corpus data places it at rank #2,577 in overall French word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 2 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our generated misspelling index lists 6 likely wrong-spelling variants for guide, with forms such as "gguide", "giude", and "gudie". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "guise", "Guido", "guinée", 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 guide, spelled G-U-I-D-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Celui, celle qui conduit une personne et, l’accompagnant, lui montre le chemin.
  2. 2
    Celui ou celle qui dirige, conduit dans la vie, dans les affaires, dans une entreprise.

Synonyms

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: gguide,giude,gudie,guidde,guied,ugide

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

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

gguide1giude2gudie2guidde1guied2ugide2
Edit distance from "guide"

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 "guide"?
"guide" is spelled G-U-I-D-E. The IPA pronunciation is \ɡid\.
What does "guide" mean?
As a noun, "guide" means: Celui, celle qui conduit une personne et, l’accompagnant, lui montre le chemin.
What words are commonly confused with "guide"?
"guide" is commonly confused with "guise", "Guido", "guinée". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "guide"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "guide" is \ɡid\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "guide" come from?
"guide" is a French word. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for this and other words across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German on PlainSpell.
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 “guide”

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

  • The one correct French spelling is G-U-I-D-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as \ɡid\ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
  • Don't mix it up with “guise” - see the side-by-side comparison. guide vs guise
  • 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