instance
\ɛ̃s.tɑ̃s\
The verdict
“instance” has 12 generated spelling variants in the French index at frequency #4,681. The variants make it a useful spelling check.
- #4,681
- frequency rank, French
- 3,561
- “I” headwords
- 12
- tracked misspellings
- 8
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Sollicitation pressante.
Corpus desk
Index FR-instance · instance · French
instance · rank #4,681 · 12 variants · 8 confusables
- FREQ-COMMON #4,681
- LEN-LONG 8 letters
- VOW-3 3 vowels
- CONFUS-MID 8 pairs
- VAR-MID 12 variants
- BOOK-MID 3,561
- PHOTO-FINISH impressionnant
Nearest frequency peer: impressionnant (-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.
Frequency neighbourhood for “instance”
Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)
- hall
hall
95,323 corpus weight
- hôpitaux
hôpitaux
95,322 corpus weight
- impressionn…
impressionnant
95,321 corpus weight
- instance
instance
95,320 corpus weight
- interdire
interdire
95,319 corpus weight
- Jones
Jones
95,317 corpus weight
What this shows Bars show where “instance” sits against the nearest ranked French headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | instance |
| Language | French |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | \ɛ̃s.tɑ̃s\ |
| Letters | 8 |
| Frequency rank | #4,681 |
| Misspellings tracked | 12 |
| Confusable pairs | 8 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “instance” sits in French frequency
A misspelling magnet
The generator records 12 spelling variants around instance (IPA \ɛ̃s.tɑ̃s\), anoun. Corpus frequency is #4,681 among 3,561 “I” headwords. Wiktionary lists 5 senses, so context still picks the gloss.
Our generated misspelling index lists 12 likely wrong-spelling variants for instance, with forms such as "innstance", "insatnce", and "insstance". 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 8 confusable-pair relationships, "instant", "instants", "instinct", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
No documented word history exists 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 instance, spelled I-N-S-T-A-N-C-E.
Definition
- 1Sollicitation pressante.
- 2Procédure judiciaire.
- 3Degré de juridiction.
- 4Organisation qui a pouvoir de décider.
- 5Élément psychique de la personnalité.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how instance appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Mais je n’ai fait au Ciel nulle dévote instance / Qui n’ait eu pour objet votre convalescence.
Seulement, comme elle n'entendait ni le polonais ni le français, et que moi je n'entendais pas le moldave, elle ne pouvait faire près de moi des instances bien pressantes en faveur de son fils.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as:
- innstance
- insatnce
- insstance
- instacne
- instancce
- instanec
- instannce
- instnace
- insttance
- intsance
- isntance
- nistance
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of instance - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.
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.
PlainSpell is rendered directly from structured Wiktionary extracts and open word-frequency lists, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of September 3, 2026. Primary sources: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) and FrequencyWords.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you spell "instance"?
What does "instance" mean?
What words are commonly confused with "instance"?
How do you pronounce "instance"?
What language does "instance" come from?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Similar French words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "instance", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked French headwords with 8 letters (nearest by frequency rank).
Similar misspelling depth
Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (12 here; floor ≥5).
What to do next
You've looked up "instance". Here's where to go from here.
- "instance" maps to 8 confusable pairs in this vintage; the highest-scored is "instant". View pair
- 12 edit-distance misspelling variants are generated for spell-check research on this headword. See variants
- Usage frequency rank #4,681 among French headwords in this corpus. Corpus statistics
- Browse more French words in the "I" letter cohort. I–Z browse
PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.
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.