jeter l’ancre

\jə.te l‿ɑ̃kʁ\

/\jə.te l‿ɑ̃kʁ\/ verb

The verdict

“jeter l’ancre” is uncommon French (outside the top frequency list), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency French
13
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Arrêter un navire, en descendant l’ancre au fond.

Corpus desk

Index FR-jeter-l-ancre · jeter l’ancre · French

jeter l’ancre · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-MEGA 13 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "J" 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 jeter l’ancre
PropertyValue
Headwordjeter l’ancre
LanguageFrench
Part of speechVerb
IPA\jə.te l‿ɑ̃kʁ\
Letters13
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Longue queue: rang de « jeter l’ancre » en français

jeter l’ancren'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

jeter l’ancre is uncommon French outside the top frequency list, classed as averb, transcribed \jə.te l‿ɑ̃kʁ\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.

We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for jeter l’ancre, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.

This entry's etymology isn't recorded, 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 jeter l’ancre, spelled J-E-T-E-R- -L-’-A-N-C-R-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Arrêter un navire, en descendant l’ancre au fond.
  2. 2
    Prendre position afin d'augmenter son influence.
  3. 3
    Se reposer, faire une pause.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Nos pilotes désiraient que nous jetassions l'ancre, et que nous attendissions un bon vent. Ils prétendaient qu'en allant plus loin nous ne trouverions plus de bon mouillage jusqu'à Souakin, […].
  2. […] Gibraltar, à vrai dire, n’a pas de port ; les vaisseaux jettent l’ancre en pleine mer ; et chaque année d’affreuses catastrophes couvrant la plage de débris, témoignent assez qu’on fait violence à la nature.

Antonyms

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 "jeter l’ancre"?
"jeter l’ancre" is spelled J-E-T-E-R- -L-’-A-N-C-R-E. The IPA pronunciation is \jə.te l‿ɑ̃kʁ\.
What does "jeter l’ancre" mean?
As a verb, "jeter l’ancre" means: Arrêter un navire, en descendant l’ancre au fond.
How do you pronounce "jeter l’ancre"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "jeter l’ancre" is \jə.te l‿ɑ̃kʁ\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "jeter l’ancre" come from?
"jeter l’ancre" 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