intermezzo

\ɛ̃.tɛʁ.mɛd.zo\

/\ɛ̃.tɛʁ.mɛd.zo\/ noun

The verdict

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

Unranked
below top-frequency French
10
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Intermède musical, partie, le plus souvent intercalaire, d'une œuvre musicale.

Corpus desk

Index FR-intermezzo · intermezzo · French

intermezzo · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-MEGA 10 letters
  • VOW-4 4 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 intermezzo
PropertyValue
Headwordintermezzo
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\ɛ̃.tɛʁ.mɛd.zo\
Letters10
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Longue queue: rang de « intermezzo » en français

intermezzoreste hors des 100.000 mots français les plus fréquents, dans la longue queue du vocabulaire technique, archaïque ou rare, là où le doute d'orthographe frappe.

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

Rare enough to double-check

intermezzo is uncommon French outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed \ɛ̃.tɛʁ.mɛd.zo\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

intermezzo doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.

This headword's origin isn't recorded in our source data, 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 intermezzo, spelled I-N-T-E-R-M-E-Z-Z-O.

Definition

  1. 1
    Intermède musical, partie, le plus souvent intercalaire, d'une œuvre musicale.
  2. 2
    Coup intermédiaire censé apporter un avantage à celui qui le joue, en contraignant l'adversaire à parer une menace en lieu et place d'un coup attendu.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Dans Euryanthe [de Weber], l'apparition de l'ombre d'Emma, formant le poétique intermezzo de l’Ouverture.
  2. Entre le premier et le deuxième morceau [d'une Sonate], on peut intercaler une petite pièce courte telle que Menuet, Scherzo, Intermezzo.

Synonyms

This word in other languages

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 "intermezzo"?
"intermezzo" is spelled I-N-T-E-R-M-E-Z-Z-O. The IPA pronunciation is \ɛ̃.tɛʁ.mɛd.zo\.
What does "intermezzo" mean?
As a noun, "intermezzo" means: Intermède musical, partie, le plus souvent intercalaire, d'une œuvre musicale.
How do you pronounce "intermezzo"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "intermezzo" is \ɛ̃.tɛʁ.mɛd.zo\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "intermezzo" come from?
"intermezzo" 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