know-how

\ˈnəʊ.haʊ\

/\ˈnəʊ.haʊ\/ noun

The verdict

“know-how” is uncommon French (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency French
8
letters

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

Corpus desk

Index FR-know-how · know-how · French

know-how · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-LONG 8 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.

Key facts for know-how
PropertyValue
Headwordknow-how
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\ˈnəʊ.haʊ\
Letters8
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Longue queue: rang de « know-how » en français

know-hown'entre pas dans le top 100.000 du français: zone de termes techniques, archaïques ou rares.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

know-how is uncommon French outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed \ˈnəʊ.haʊ\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Savoir-faire.".

know-how has no tracked misspelling variants, suggesting the orthography follows predictable French patterns. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.

This entry's etymology isn't recorded, 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 know-how, spelled K-N-O-W---H-O-W.

Definition

  1. 1
    Savoir-faire.

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.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "know-how"?
"know-how" is spelled K-N-O-W---H-O-W. The IPA pronunciation is \ˈnəʊ.haʊ\.
What does "know-how" mean?
As a noun, "know-how" means: Savoir-faire.
How do you pronounce "know-how"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "know-how" is \ˈnəʊ.haʊ\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "know-how" come from?
"know-how" 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.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list