key

\kiː\

/\kiː\/ adj

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

The verdict

“key” sits in 20 confusable pairs (corpus #18,240) as an adjective. The look-alike neighbours are the real trap.

#18,240
frequency rank, French
737
“K” headwords
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Dominant, principal.

Corpus desk

Index FR-key · key · French

key · rank #18,240 · 0 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #18,240
  • LEN-MID 3 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 737
  • PHOTO-FINISH kabyle

Nearest frequency peer: kabyle (-1 rank slots)

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.

Frequency neighbourhood for “key”

Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)

corpus weight

What this shows Bars show where “key” sits against the nearest ranked French headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

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

key vs km
33% similar
key vs kg
33% similar
key vs ki
33% similar

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

Key facts for key
PropertyValue
Headwordkey
LanguageFrench
Part of speechAdjective
IPA\kiː\
Letters3
Frequency rank#18,240
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Où “key” se place dans la fréquence du français

Cette échelle va du noyau du français courant (gauche) jusqu'à la traîne des formes rares (droite).keyse place ici:

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

L'échelle est logarithmique (chaque tic ≈ 10× plus rare). Dans la même bande de rareté figurent « kabyle » (#18,239), « Leicester » (#18,242), « lentille » (#18,243). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Easy to mix with look-alikes

The spelling risk for key is neighbouring look-alikes ("km", "kg", …), not just typos; it is anadjective pronounced \kiː\. Frequency #18,240 among 737 “K” headwords. Gloss: "Dominant, principal.".

No misspelling variants are generated for key in our index, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "km", "kg", "ki", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Wiktionary doesn't record an etymology for this headword, so its spelling is easiest explained by how it's pronounced rather than where it came from. The correct French form is key, spelled K-E-Y.

Definition

  1. 1
    Dominant, principal.

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

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

  1. The key idea is to let your body flow with the motion.

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 "key"?
"key" is spelled K-E-Y. The IPA pronunciation is \kiː\.
What does "key" mean?
As an adjective, "key" means: Dominant, principal.
What words are commonly confused with "key"?
"key" is commonly confused with "km", "kg", "ki". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "key"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "key" is \kiː\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "key" come from?
"key" 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.

Similar French words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "key", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked French headwords with 3 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

lux#18,246maj#18,249fly#18,205ESP#18,197

What to do next

You've looked up "key". Here's where to go from here.

  • "key" maps to 20 confusable pairs in this vintage; the highest-scored is "km". View pair
  • Usage frequency rank #18,240 among French headwords in this corpus. Corpus statistics
  • Browse more French words in the "K" letter cohort. K–Z browse

PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.

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