illness

\ˈɪl.nəs\

/\ˈɪl.nəs\/ noun

The verdict

“illness” is uncommon French (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency French
7
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Maladie.

Corpus desk

Index FR-illness · illness · French

illness · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-LONG 7 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "I" thin
  • PHOTO-UNK Peer pending

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.

Key facts for illness
PropertyValue
Headwordillness
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\ˈɪl.nəs\
Letters7
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Longue queue: rang de « illness » en français

illnessn'entre pas dans le top 100.000 du français: zone de termes techniques, archaïques ou rares.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

illness is uncommon French outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed \ˈɪl.nəs\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

illness has no tracked misspelling variants, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.

Our source data has no etymology on file for this entry, leaving phoneme-to-grapheme mapping as the best guide to its spelling rather than a borrowing history. The correct French form is illness, spelled I-L-L-N-E-S-S.

Definition

  1. 1
    Maladie.
  2. 2
    Perception personnelle d'un mauvais état de santé.

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

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

  1. Most people who have a disease will feel they have an illness, while others will feel perfectly healthy - La plupart des gens malades se sentent en mauvaise santé, alors que d'autres se sentent parfaitement bien.

Synonyms

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "illness"?
"illness" is spelled I-L-L-N-E-S-S. The IPA pronunciation is \ˈɪl.nəs\.
What does "illness" mean?
As a noun, "illness" means: Maladie.
How do you pronounce "illness"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "illness" is \ˈɪl.nəs\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "illness" come from?
"illness" 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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list