kept

\kɛpt\

/\kɛpt\/ verb

The verdict

“kept” is uncommon French (frequency #90,857 among 110,375 “K” headwords), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#90,857
frequency rank, French
110,375
“K” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Prétérit et participe passé du verbe to keep.

Key facts for kept
PropertyValue
Headwordkept
LanguageFrench
Part of speechVerb
IPA\kɛpt\
Letters4
Frequency rank#90,857
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “kept” 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). kept lands here:

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

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

Rare enough to double-check

kept is uncommon French at frequency #90,857 among 110,375 “K” headwords, classed as averb, transcribed \kɛpt\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Prétérit et participe passé du verbe to keep.".

The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for kept, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable French rules. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.

No documented word history exists for this headword, so spelling patterns must be inferred from the word's phoneme-to-grapheme mapping rather than from a documented borrowing chain. The correct French form is kept, spelled K-E-P-T.

Definition

  1. 1
    Prétérit et participe passé du verbe to keep.

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 "kept"?
"kept" is spelled K-E-P-T. The IPA pronunciation is \kɛpt\.
What does "kept" mean?
As a verb, "kept" means: Prétérit et participe passé du verbe to keep.
How do you pronounce "kept"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "kept" is \kɛpt\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "kept" come from?
"kept" 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 “kept”

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

  • The one correct French spelling is K-E-P-T - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as \kɛpt\ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
  • Browse more French words and confusable pairs in the same reference. French words

Other uncommon French words near this rank

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