katana

Name: katana, French Word Data
Creator: Wiktionary
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

\ka.ta.na\

/\ka.ta.na\/ noun

By PlainSpell · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) · analyzed May 6, 2026

The verdict

“katana” has 8 generated spelling variants in the French index at frequency #38,883. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#38,883
frequency rank, French: 110,375
“K” headwords: 8
tracked misspellings: 7
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Sabre japonais long (tranchant de plus de 60 cm), se maniant habituellement à deux mains, parfois à une main, qui forme avec le wakizashi (sabre court) le daisho, attribut réservé aux samouraïs, et...

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

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

katana vs Katia

50% similar

katana vs Kazan

50% similar

katana vs Katanga

71% similar

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

Key facts for katana
Property	Value
Headword	katana
Language	French
Part of speech	Noun
IPA	\ka.ta.na\
Letters	6
Frequency rank	#38,883
Misspellings tracked	8
Confusable pairs	7
Source	Wiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “katana” 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). katana lands here:

#38,883

#1#100#1K#10K#100K

← used constantlyrarely used →

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

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 8 spelling variants around katana (IPA \ka.ta.na\), anoun. Corpus frequency is #38,883 among 110,375 “K” headwords. Dominant gloss: "Sabre japonais long (tranchant de plus de 60 cm), se maniant habituellement à deux mains, parfois à une main, qui forme avec le wakizashi (sabre court) le daisho, attribut réservé aux samouraïs, et...".

Our generated misspelling index lists 8 likely wrong-spelling variants for katana, with forms such as "aktana", "kaatna", and "kataan". 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 7 confusable-pair relationships, "Katia", "Kazan", "Katanga", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

No documented word history exists for this headword, so its spelling is easiest to reason about phoneme by phoneme, absent a documented history. The correct French form is katana, spelled K-A-T-A-N-A.

Definition

1
Sabre japonais long (tranchant de plus de 60 cm), se maniant habituellement à deux mains, parfois à une main, qui forme avec le wakizashi (sabre court) le daisho, attribut réservé aux samouraïs, et qui se distingue par : une poignée (tsuka) longue traversée par une goupille en bambou (mekugi), recouverte de peau de raie ou de requin (same kawa), entourée d'une tresse (tsuka maki, tsuka ito) facilitant la prise en main en soie, coton ou cuir, avec des ornements au pommeau (kashira) et sur les flancs (menuki) ; une garde (tsuba) de petite taille ouvragée ; une lame courbe à un seul tranchant, avec éventuellement une gorge (bohi), ayant une ligne de trempe en forme de vague ou plus ou moins rectiligne (hamon).

This word in other languages

katana(English)catana(Español)Katana(Deutsch)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: aktana,kaatna,kataan,katanna,katnaa,kattana,kkatana,ktaana

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of katana - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.

Edit distance from "katana"

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 "katana"?

"katana" is spelled K-A-T-A-N-A. The IPA pronunciation is \ka.ta.na\.

What does "katana" mean?

As a noun, "katana" means: Sabre japonais long (tranchant de plus de 60 cm), se maniant habituellement à deux mains, parfois à une main, qui forme avec le wakizashi (sabre court) le daisho, attribut réservé aux samouraïs, et...

What words are commonly confused with "katana"?

"katana" is commonly confused with "Katia", "Kazan", "Katanga". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.

How do you pronounce "katana"?

The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "katana" is \ka.ta.na\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.

What language does "katana" come from?

"katana" is a French word. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for this and other words across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German on PlainSpell.

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 “katana”

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

The one correct French spelling is K-A-T-A-N-A - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
Say it as \ka.ta.na\ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
Don't mix it up with “Katia” - see the side-by-side comparison. katana vs Katia
Browse more French words and confusable pairs in the same reference. French words

Same frequency band

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.