heure

^((h muet))\œʁ\

/^((h muet))\œʁ\/ noun

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

The verdict

“heure” is in the everyday core of French, ranked #346 in French word frequency and used as a noun.

#346
frequency rank, French
5
letters
6
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Unité de mesure du temps, compatible avec le Système international, dérivée de la seconde, dont le symbole est h. 1 heure = 60 minutes = 3600 secondes.

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

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

heure vs hue
60% similar
heure vs hour
60% similar
heure vs hume
60% similar

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

Key facts for heure
PropertyValue
Headwordheure
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA^((h muet))\œʁ\
Letters5
Frequency rank#346
Misspellings tracked6
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “heure” 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). heure 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 heure is 5 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as ^((h muet))\œʁ\. Corpus data places it at rank #346 in overall French word frequency, putting it firmly in the everyday core of the language. Wiktionary records 19 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 heure, with forms such as "ehure", "herue", and "heuer". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "hue", "hour", "hume", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

This headword's origin isn't recorded in our source data, so its spelling is easiest to reason about phoneme by phoneme, absent a documented history. The correct French form is heure, spelled H-E-U-R-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Unité de mesure du temps, compatible avec le Système international, dérivée de la seconde, dont le symbole est h. 1 heure = 60 minutes = 3600 secondes.
  2. 2
    Durée mesurée par cette unité.
  3. 3
    Ce temps qui est consacré à une tâche, à une activité, etc. — Note d’usage : Il est alors suivi de la préposition de.
  4. 4
    Une des vingt-quatre divisions de la journée, durant soixante minutes.
  5. 5
    Moment d’une journée.
  6. 6
    Moment du jour considéré par rapport au temps, aux heures écoulées depuis minuit ou depuis midi.
  7. 7
    Indique l’heure et la minute sur le cadran de 24 heures montrées respectivement avec deux chiffres.
  8. 8
    Indication de l’heure qu’il est, donnée par une horloge, par une montre, etc.
  9. 9
    Les signes d’un cadran qui servent à l’indication des heures.
  10. 10
    Moment qu’on indique, qu’on fixe pour un rendez-vous, pour une affaire, etc.
  11. 11
    Moment de la journée où l’on fait habituellement quelque chose.
  12. 12
    Divers moments de la journée, par rapport à la manière dont on les passe, dont on les emploie.
  13. 13
    Temps, moment ou époque quelconque.
  14. 14
    (Avec article défini et complément de nom et, souvent, le verbe sonner) Moment où une chose arrive ou doit arriver.
  15. 15
    Temps, moment où quelque chose doit arriver à quelqu’un.
  16. 16
    Le moment de la mort.
  17. 17
    Unité d’angle valant 15 degrés.
  18. 18
    Trente degrés, utilisé pour indiquer les directions approximatives selon le cadran de 12 heures.
  19. 19
    Livre d’heures. → voir heures

Synonyms

plombe

This word in other languages

hour(English)hora(Español)Stunde(Deutsch)hora(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: ehure,herue,heuer,heurre,hheure,huere

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

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

ehure2herue2heuer2heurre1hheure1huere2
Edit distance from "heure"

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 "heure"?
"heure" is spelled H-E-U-R-E. The IPA pronunciation is ^((h muet))\œʁ\.
What does "heure" mean?
As a noun, "heure" means: Unité de mesure du temps, compatible avec le Système international, dérivée de la seconde, dont le symbole est h. 1 heure = 60 minutes = 3600 secondes.
What words are commonly confused with "heure"?
"heure" is commonly confused with "hue", "hour", "hume". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "heure"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "heure" is ^((h muet))\œʁ\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "heure" come from?
"heure" 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 “heure”

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

  • The one correct French spelling is H-E-U-R-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as ^((h muet))\œʁ\ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
  • Don't mix it up with “hue” - see the side-by-side comparison. heure vs hue
  • 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