hélice

\e.lis\

/\e.lis\/ noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

The verdict

“hélice” has 9 generated spelling variants in the French index at frequency #20,161. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#20,161
frequency rank, French
1,969
“H” headwords
9
tracked misspellings
6
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Ligne tracée en forme de vis autour d’un cylindre.

Corpus desk

Index FR-helice · hélice · French

hélice · rank #20,161 · 9 variants · 6 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #20,161
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-MID 6 pairs
  • VAR-MID 9 variants
  • BOOK-MID 1,969
  • PHOTO-FINISH hype

Nearest frequency peer: hype (-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.

Pairs de rang près de l'aimant d'erreurs « hélice »

Même bande de rareté: utile si une faute tombe sur un lemme voisin

corpus weight

What this shows « hélice » siège parmi ces pairs FrequencyWords; la profondeur des fautes est suivie à part dans le graphique d'édition.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

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

hélice vs hésite
67% similar
hélice vs hérite
67% similar
hélice vs hélium
67% similar

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

Key facts for hélice
PropertyValue
Headwordhélice
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\e.lis\
Letters6
Frequency rank#20,161
Misspellings tracked9
Confusable pairs6
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Fréquence de l'aimant d'erreurs « hélice »

Cette échelle va du noyau du français courant (gauche) jusqu'à la traîne des formes rares (droite).hélicese place ici:

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

L'échelle est logarithmique (chaque tic ≈ 10× plus rare). Dans la même bande de rareté figurent « hype » (#20,160), « hésitant » (#20,162), « hurlant » (#20,159). Parmi 1,969 lemmes en « H », « hélice » est au #20,161. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 9 spelling variants around hélice (IPA \e.lis\), anoun. Corpus frequency is #20,161 among 1,969 “H” headwords. Wiktionary lists 6 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 9 likely wrong-spelling variants for hélice, with forms such as "helice", "hhélice", and "hléice". 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 6 confusable-pair relationships, "hésite", "hérite", "hélium", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

Our source data has no etymology on file for this entry, so spelling patterns must be inferred from the word's phoneme-to-grapheme mapping rather than from a documented borrowing chain. The correct French form is hélice, spelled H-É-L-I-C-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Ligne tracée en forme de vis autour d’un cylindre.
  2. 2
    Petites volutes qui entrent dans la composition du chapiteau corinthien.
  3. 3
    Certains coquillages univalves, contournés en spirale.
  4. 4
    Appareil de propulsion qui rappelle la forme de la vis, composé de plusieurs branches et mis en action par un moteur.
  5. 5
    Hélice bipale.
  6. 6
    Structure tridimensionnelle en forme d'hélice de certaines molécules ou de certaines parties de molécules.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Un escalier en hélice est composé de marches qui tournent avec la même inclinaison autour d’un pilier cylindrique.
  2. C’est un consommateur effréné d’insectes de tout ordre. Mes archives de chasseur naturaliste font foi du contenu de son gésier. On y trouve tout le petit peuple des guérets : larves et charançons de toutes espèces, criquets, opatres, cassides, chrysomèles, grillons, forficules, fourmis, araignées, cloportes, hélices, iules et tant d’autres.

This word in other languages

helix(English)hélice(Español)Schraube(Deutsch)rosca(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • helice
  • hhélice
  • hléice
  • héilce
  • hélcie
  • hélicce
  • héliec
  • héllice
  • éhlice

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of hélice - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.

helice1hhélice1hléice2héilce2hélcie2hélicce1héliec2héllice1
Edit distance from "hélice"

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 "hélice"?
"hélice" is spelled H-É-L-I-C-E. The IPA pronunciation is \e.lis\.
What does "hélice" mean?
As a noun, "hélice" means: Ligne tracée en forme de vis autour d’un cylindre.
What words are commonly confused with "hélice"?
"hélice" is commonly confused with "hésite", "hérite", "hélium". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "hélice"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "hélice" is \e.lis\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "hélice" come from?
"hélice" 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 "hélice", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked French headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

gérées#20,153freine#20,148fortin#20,147islamo#20,177

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (9 here; floor ≥5).

exergue9 variantsespionne9 variantslouable9 variantsmagnus9 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list