levain
\lə.vɛ̃\
The verdict
“levain” is a moderately-common French word, ranked #34,162 in French word frequency and used as a noun.
- #34,162
- frequency rank, French
- 6
- letters
- 8
- tracked misspellings
- 13
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Morceau de pâte aigrie qui, mêlée à la pâte dont on veut faire du pain, sert à la faire lever, à la faire fermenter.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | levain |
| Language | French |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | \lə.vɛ̃\ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #34,162 |
| Misspellings tracked | 8 |
| Confusable pairs | 13 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “levain” sits in French frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The French entry for levain is 6 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as \lə.vɛ̃\. Corpus data places it at rank #34,162 in overall French word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 3 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 8 likely wrong-spelling variants for levain, with forms such as "elvain", "leavin", and "levainn". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 13 confusable-pair relationships, "levi", "levis", "levant", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
No documented word history exists for this headword, so its spelling is best read as a straightforward mapping from sound to letter. The correct French form is levain, spelled L-E-V-A-I-N.
Definition
- 1Morceau de pâte aigrie qui, mêlée à la pâte dont on veut faire du pain, sert à la faire lever, à la faire fermenter.
- 2Substance capable de produire une fermentation interne dans le corps avec lequel on l’a mêlé et d’y exciter un gonflement.
- 3Germes de certaines passions violentes.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: elvain,leavin,levainn,levani,levian,levvain,llevain,lveain
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of levain - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
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
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Using “levain”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct French spelling is L-E-V-A-I-N - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as \lə.vɛ̃\ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “levi” - see the side-by-side comparison. levain vs levi
- Browse more French words and confusable pairs in the same reference. French words
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.