hérédité

\e.ʁe.di.te\

/\e.ʁe.di.te\/ noun

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

The verdict

“hérédité” has 12 generated spelling variants in the French index at frequency #33,729. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#33,729
frequency rank, French
109,908
“H” headwords
12
tracked misspellings
4
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Droit de recueillir la totalité ou une partie des biens qu’une personne laisse à son décès.

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

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

hérédité vs hérite
63% similar
hérédité vs hérésie
63% similar
hérédité vs hermite
50% similar

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

Key facts for hérédité
PropertyValue
Headwordhérédité
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\e.ʁe.di.te\
Letters8
Frequency rank#33,729
Misspellings tracked12
Confusable pairs4
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “hérédité” 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). hérédité lands here:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 12 spelling variants around hérédité (IPA \e.ʁe.di.te\), anoun. Corpus frequency is #33,729 among 109,908 “H” headwords. Wiktionary lists 5 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 12 likely wrong-spelling variants for hérédité, with forms such as "heredite", "hhérédité", and "hréédité". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 4 confusable-pair relationships, "hérite", "hérésie", "hermite", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Wiktionary doesn't record an etymology for this headword, so its spelling is easiest explained by how it's pronounced rather than where it came from. The correct French form is hérédité, spelled H-É-R-É-D-I-T-É.

Definition

  1. 1
    Droit de recueillir la totalité ou une partie des biens qu’une personne laisse à son décès.
  2. 2
    Succession au trône.
  3. 3
    Privilège accordé à un office que le roi rendait héréditaire, sans que le titulaire fût assujetti au paiement du droit de prêt et d’annuel.
  4. 4
    Transmission des traits génétiques qui déterminent le phénotype, tout en tenant compte de l’interaction avec l’environnement et les expériences de vie.
  5. 5
    Qualité d'une proposition héréditaire.

Synonyms

atavisme

This word in other languages

heredity(English)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • heredite
  • hhérédité
  • hréédité
  • hérdéité
  • hérrédité
  • héréddité
  • héréditté
  • hérédiét
  • hérédtié
  • héréidté
  • héérdité
  • éhrédité

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of hérédité - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.

heredite3hhérédité1hréédité2hérdéité2hérrédité1héréddité1héréditté1hérédiét2
Edit distance from "hérédité"

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 "hérédité"?
"hérédité" is spelled H-É-R-É-D-I-T-É. The IPA pronunciation is \e.ʁe.di.te\.
What does "hérédité" mean?
As a noun, "hérédité" means: Droit de recueillir la totalité ou une partie des biens qu’une personne laisse à son décès.
What words are commonly confused with "hérédité"?
"hérédité" is commonly confused with "hérite", "hérésie", "hermite". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "hérédité"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "hérédité" is \e.ʁe.di.te\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "hérédité" come from?
"hérédité" 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 “hérédité”

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

  • The one correct French spelling is H-É-R-É-D-I-T-É - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as \e.ʁe.di.te\ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
  • Don't mix it up with “hérite” - see the side-by-side comparison. hérédité vs hérite
  • Browse more French words and confusable pairs in the same reference. French words

Same frequency band

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