kaum
\kaʊ̯m\
The verdict
“kaum” is uncommon French (outside the top frequency list), classed as an adverb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency French
- 4
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - À peine, au moment où, indique que quelque chose est peu décalée dans le temps.
Corpus desk
Index FR-kaum · kaum · French
kaum · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-MID 4 letters
- VOW-2 2 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "K" 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.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | kaum |
| Language | French |
| Part of speech | Adverb |
| IPA | \kaʊ̯m\ |
| Letters | 4 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Longue queue: rang de « kaum » en français
Rare enough to double-check
kaum is uncommon French outside the top frequency list, classed as anadverb, transcribed \kaʊ̯m\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.
The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for kaum, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. No confusable counterpart is on file for this word, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.
No borrowing history is documented for this entry, so its spelling pattern is best understood through pronunciation rather than a traceable origin. The correct French form is kaum, spelled K-A-U-M.
Definition
- 1À peine, au moment où, indique que quelque chose est peu décalée dans le temps.
- 2Ne ... guère, très peu, à un moindre degré.
- 3Avec peine, difficilement.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how kaum appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Kaum waren sie eingetreten, da verschloss er die Tür und drehte den Schlüssel zweimal herum.
Die schlechten Begierden, die schlechten Gedanken, wenn es sie überhaupt gibt, kommen von draußen; kaum sind sie in mir, da verkümmern und verdorren sie: ich bin ein schlechter Boden für das Böse.
Synonyms
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.