jour

\ʒuʁ\

/\ʒuʁ\/ noun

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

The verdict

“jour” is in the everyday core of French, ranked #141 in French word frequency and used as a noun.

#141
frequency rank, French
4
letters
5
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Période de vingt-quatre heures, commençant généralement à minuit ; en certains lieux et à certaines époques, le jour commençait plutôt avec le lever ou le coucher du soleil.

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

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

jour vs ju
50% similar
jour vs jus
50% similar
jour vs joy
50% similar

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

Key facts for jour
PropertyValue
Headwordjour
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\ʒuʁ\
Letters4
Frequency rank#141
Misspellings tracked5
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “jour” sits in French frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). jour lands here:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The French entry for jour is 4 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as \ʒuʁ\. Corpus data places it at rank #141 in overall French word frequency, putting it firmly in the everyday core of the language. Wiktionary records 18 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our generated misspelling index lists 5 likely wrong-spelling variants for jour, with forms such as "jjour", "joru", and "jourr". 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 20 confusable-pair relationships, "ju", "jus", "joy", 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 its spelling is best read as a straightforward mapping from sound to letter. The correct French form is jour, spelled J-O-U-R.

Definition

  1. 1
    Période de vingt-quatre heures, commençant généralement à minuit ; en certains lieux et à certaines époques, le jour commençait plutôt avec le lever ou le coucher du soleil.
  2. 2
    Cette même période sur d’autres corps célestes.
  3. 3
    Unité de mesure du temps (compatible avec le Système international) dérivée de la seconde. Symbole d (du latin diurnus).
  4. 4
    Date particulière du calendrier.
  5. 5
    Jour de la semaine. Un des sept noms de jour de chaque semaine.
  6. 6
    Étendue de terrain qu’un attelage pouvait labourer en une journée de travail.
  7. 7
    Vie.
  8. 8
    Période durant laquelle le soleil apporte sa lumière, pour une zone donnée de la Terre.
  9. 9
    Source de lumière ; percement par lequel la lumière peut pénétrer.
  10. 10
    Lumière du jour ou parfois d’une autre source lumineuse.
  11. 11
    Trou dans une surface continue ou un tamis.
  12. 12
    Espace ménagé dans l’étoffe d’un vêtement.
  13. 13
    Manière dont un objet est frappé par la lumière.
  14. 14
    Manière de présenter quelqu'un ou quelque chose.
  15. 15
    Imitation de la lumière qui se répand sur les objets représentés dans un tableau.
  16. 16
    L’ensemble des tâches effectuées en dehors de la mine proprement dite.
  17. 17
    Installations situées à l’extérieur d’une mine.
  18. 18
    Jour de la semaine où a lieu la réception des relations d'une personne.

Synonyms

journée

Antonyms

nuitfond

This word in other languages

day(English)día(Español)Tag(Deutsch)dia(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: jjour,joru,jourr,juor,ojur

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of jour - 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.

jjour1joru2jourr1juor2ojur2
Edit distance from "jour"

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 "jour"?
"jour" is spelled J-O-U-R. The IPA pronunciation is \ʒuʁ\.
What does "jour" mean?
As a noun, "jour" means: Période de vingt-quatre heures, commençant généralement à minuit ; en certains lieux et à certaines époques, le jour commençait plutôt avec le lever ou le coucher du soleil.
What words are commonly confused with "jour"?
"jour" is commonly confused with "ju", "jus", "joy". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "jour"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "jour" is \ʒuʁ\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "jour" come from?
"jour" 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.

Using “jour”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct French spelling is J-O-U-R - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as \ʒuʁ\ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
  • Don't mix it up with “ju” - see the side-by-side comparison. jour vs ju
  • Browse more French words and confusable pairs in the same reference. French words
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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list