hamster

/^((h aspiré))\am.stɛʁ\/ noun

Letters

7 characters

Frequency Rank

#24,994

in French word usage

Misspellings

11

tracked variants

Confusables

6

similar word pairs

hamster is aFrenchnoun. It means: Petit rongeur nocturne de silhouette massive et d’aspect robuste, pourvus d’abajoues. Pronounced ^((h aspiré))\am.stɛʁ\. Often confused with hâter and hanter.

Key facts for hamster
PropertyValue
Headwordhamster
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA^((h aspiré))\am.stɛʁ\
Letters7
Frequency rank#24,994
Misspellings tracked11
Confusable pairs6
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency rank visualization

Position of hamster in French word frequency (lower rank = more common)

Source: Wordfreq corpus

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The French entry for hamster is 7 letters long, classified as anoun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as ^((h aspiré))\am.stɛʁ\. Corpus data places it at rank #24,994 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 Hunspell-derived misspelling index lists 11 documented wrong-spelling variants for hamster, with forms such as "ahmster", "hammster", and "hamsetr". Each variant represents a distinct typo pattern that appears often enough in corpora to be worth flagging, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution.It also participates in 6 confusable-pair relationships, "hâter", "hanter", "hausser", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

No explicit etymology string is stored for this entry, so spelling patterns must be inferred from the word's phoneme-to-grapheme mapping rather than from a documented borrowing chain. For readers arriving here from a spelling check, the authoritative guidance is: the correct French form is hamster, spelled H-A-M-S-T-E-R, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.

Definition

  1. 1
    Petit rongeur nocturne de silhouette massive et d’aspect robuste, pourvus d’abajoues.
  2. 2
    Personnification des pensées qui ne cessent de « tourner » dans la tête, comme le hamster en cage fait tourner sa roue sans fin.

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: ahmster,hammster,hamsetr,hamsster,hamsterr,hamstre,hamstter,hamtser,hasmter,hhamster,hmaster

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

Relative frequency of common misspelling types for hamster

Misspelling Variants of "hamster"

ahmster7hammster8hamsetr7hamsster8hamsterr8hamstre7hamstter8hamtser7
Misspelling Variants of "hamster"

Frequency rank: #24,994 in French

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "hamster"?
"hamster" is spelled H-A-M-S-T-E-R. The IPA pronunciation is ^((h aspiré))\am.stɛʁ\.
What does "hamster" mean?
As a noun, "hamster" means: Petit rongeur nocturne de silhouette massive et d’aspect robuste, pourvus d’abajoues.
What words are commonly confused with "hamster"?
"hamster" is commonly confused with "hâter", "hanter", "hausser". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "hamster"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "hamster" is ^((h aspiré))\am.stɛʁ\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "hamster" come from?
"hamster" 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.

Nearby French words

Other entries that begin with the letter H in our French index:

Explore PlainSpell

Data Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Frequency data from Wordfreq. Misspellings derived from Hunspell dictionaries.