guidon

\ɡi.dɔ̃\

/\ɡi.dɔ̃\/ noun

The verdict

“guidon” is a moderately-common French word, ranked #21,959 in French word frequency and used as a noun.

#21,959
frequency rank, French
6
letters
8
tracked misspellings
13
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Petit drapeau d’une compagnie militaire.

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

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

guidon vs Guyon
50% similar
guidon vs Guizot
50% similar
guidon vs Guillon
57% similar

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

Key facts for guidon
PropertyValue
Headwordguidon
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\ɡi.dɔ̃\
Letters6
Frequency rank#21,959
Misspellings tracked8
Confusable pairs13
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “guidon” 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). guidon 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 guidon is 6 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as \ɡi.dɔ̃\. Corpus data places it at rank #21,959 in overall French word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 11 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 guidon, with forms such as "gguidon", "giudon", and "gudion". 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 13 confusable-pair relationships, "Guyon", "Guizot", "Guillon", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

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 guidon, spelled G-U-I-D-O-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    Petit drapeau d’une compagnie militaire.
  2. 2
    Celui qui portait ce drapeau.
  3. 3
    Petit drapeau qui sert pour l’alignement dans les manœuvres de l’infanterie.
  4. 4
    Banderole plus courte et plus large que la flamme, et fendue à son extrémité, qui sert ordinairement à faire des signaux.
  5. 5
    Barre d’acier creux placée en haut de la fourche qui sert à orienter la roue avant et par là même à contrôler la trajectoire d'un véhicule.
  6. 6
    Titularisation d’un pilote dans une écurie de sport motocycliste.
  7. 7
    Marque que l’on fait au bout d’une ligne, pour indiquer l’endroit où doit être placée la note qui commence la ligne suivante.
  8. 8
    Pièce fixée à l’extrémité du canon d'une arme à feu et qui sert à viser.
  9. 9
    Signal d'arrêt pour le conducteur d'un train.
  10. 10
    Meuble représentant dans les armoiries un drapeau de forme plus ou moins allongée à l’extrémité se divisant en deux pointes ondoyantes ou non. Il est généralement attaché à une hampe placée à dextre et est dit emmanché quand la hampe est d’un autre émail. À rapprocher de bannière, étendard, gonfanon, oriflamme, pavillon et pennon.
  11. 11
    Trait peint en limite de parcelle afin de la matérialiser.

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: gguidon,giudon,gudion,guiddon,guidno,guidonn,guiodn,ugidon

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

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

gguidon1giudon2gudion2guiddon1guidno2guidonn1guiodn2ugidon2
Edit distance from "guidon"

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 "guidon"?
"guidon" is spelled G-U-I-D-O-N. The IPA pronunciation is \ɡi.dɔ̃\.
What does "guidon" mean?
As a noun, "guidon" means: Petit drapeau d’une compagnie militaire.
What words are commonly confused with "guidon"?
"guidon" is commonly confused with "Guyon", "Guizot", "Guillon". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "guidon"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "guidon" is \ɡi.dɔ̃\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "guidon" come from?
"guidon" is a French word. PlainSpell covers definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German.
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 “guidon”

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

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