lateral

\la.te.ʁal\

/\la.te.ʁal\/ adj

The verdict

“lateral” is uncommon French (frequency #96,070 among 2,567 “L” headwords), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#96,070
frequency rank, French
2,567
“L” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Variante orthographique de latéral.

Corpus desk

Index FR-lateral · lateral · French

lateral · rank #96,070 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #96,070
  • LEN-LONG 7 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,567
  • PHOTO-FINISH lascives

Nearest frequency peer: lascives (-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.

Rangs de longue queue près de « lateral »

Bande clairsemée: les barres inversent le rang pour que le rare se lise plus court

corpus weight

What this shows Vue de longue queue: où « lateral » se situe face à des rangs français aussi rares.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for lateral
PropertyValue
Headwordlateral
LanguageFrench
Part of speechAdjective
IPA\la.te.ʁal\
Letters7
Frequency rank#96,070
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Longue queue: rang de « lateral » en français

Cette échelle va du noyau du français courant (gauche) jusqu'à la traîne des formes rares (droite).lateraltombe dans cette queue de rareté:

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

Les tics avancent en logarithme; chacun est de l'ordre de dix fois plus rare. Voisins rares de la même bande: « lascives » (#96,069), « Lauri » (#96,071), « larguent » (#96,068). Parmi 2,567 lemmes en « L », « lateral » est au #96,070. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

lateral is uncommon French at frequency #96,070 among 2,567 “L” headwords, classed as anadjective, transcribed \la.te.ʁal\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Variante orthographique de latéral.".

Zero misspellings are on record for lateral in our index, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. This headword has no recorded confusable partner, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.

This headword's origin isn't recorded in our source data, so its spelling pattern is best understood through pronunciation rather than a traceable origin. The correct French form is lateral, spelled L-A-T-E-R-A-L.

Definition

  1. 1
    Variante orthographique de latéral.

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 "lateral"?
"lateral" is spelled L-A-T-E-R-A-L. The IPA pronunciation is \la.te.ʁal\.
What does "lateral" mean?
As an adjective, "lateral" means: Variante orthographique de latéral.
How do you pronounce "lateral"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "lateral" is \la.te.ʁal\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "lateral" come from?
"lateral" 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.

Similar French words by spelling shape

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

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked French headwords with 7 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list