jam

\dʒam\

/\dʒam\/ noun

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

The verdict

“jam” sits in 20 confusable pairs (corpus #18,513) as a noun. The look-alike neighbours are the real trap.

#18,513
frequency rank, French
957
“J” headwords
20
confusable pairs

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

Corpus desk

Index FR-jam · jam · French

jam · rank #18,513 · 0 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #18,513
  • LEN-MID 3 letters
  • VOW-1 1 vowel
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 957
  • PHOTO-FINISH IUT

Nearest frequency peer: IUT (-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 “jam”

Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)

corpus weight

What this shows Bars show where “jam” sits against the nearest ranked French headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

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

jam vs je
33% similar
jam vs jo
33% similar
jam vs JT
0% similar

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

Key facts for jam
PropertyValue
Headwordjam
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\dʒam\
Letters3
Frequency rank#18,513
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Où “jam” se place dans la fréquence du français

La fréquence va de la poignée de mots du quotidien (gauche) à la longue queue presque jamais vue (droite).jamse place ici:

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

L'axe est logarithmique: chaque tic marque environ dix fois moins de fréquence. Dans la même bande de rareté figurent « IUT » (#18,512), « invoque » (#18,511), « JP » (#18,515). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Easy to mix with look-alikes

The spelling risk for jam is neighbouring look-alikes ("je", "jo", …), not just typos; it is anoun pronounced \dʒam\. Frequency #18,513 among 957 “J” headwords. 3 recorded senses keep meaning in play.

No misspelling variants are generated for jam in our index, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "je", "jo", "JT", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

No documented word history exists for this headword, so any spelling logic here comes from how the word's sounds map to letters, not a documented origin story. The correct French form is jam, spelled J-A-M.

Definition

  1. 1
    Confiture.
  2. 2
    Séance musicale improvisée fondée sur des standards de jazz à laquelle peuvent se joindre différents musiciens.
  3. 3
    Au roller derby, période de jeu d’une durée de deux minutes.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. La bonne dame lui sourit et, une demi-heure plus tard, elle revint, portant, outre un beau poulet rôti, des grillades, du jambon rose et du jam de cerises.
  2. Ensuite Louis et Corine bœuffent avec Ronnie, il y a Bill Wyman, Charlie et Paul Rodgers. Ils font une jam qui restera un souvenir d'anthologie. Ils jouent « Johnny B. Goode » façon reggae – comme Keith aurait pu faire, […].

Synonyms

jam-sessionbœuf

This word in other languages

jam(English)

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 "jam"?
"jam" is spelled J-A-M. The IPA pronunciation is \dʒam\.
What does "jam" mean?
As a noun, "jam" means: Confiture.
What words are commonly confused with "jam"?
"jam" is commonly confused with "je", "jo", "JT". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "jam"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "jam" is \dʒam\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "jam" come from?
"jam" is a French word. PlainSpell covers definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German.
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.

Similar French words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "jam", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked French headwords with 3 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

IUT#18,512liv#18,524nou#18,545pay#18,553

What to do next

You've looked up "jam". Here's where to go from here.

  • "jam" maps to 20 confusable pairs in this vintage; the highest-scored is "je". View pair
  • Usage frequency rank #18,513 among French headwords in this corpus. Corpus statistics
  • Browse more French words in the "J" letter cohort. J–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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list