levain

\lə.vɛ̃\

/\lə.vɛ̃\/ noun

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

The verdict

“levain” has 8 generated spelling variants in the French index at frequency #34,162. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#34,162
frequency rank, French
2,567
“L” headwords
8
tracked misspellings
13
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 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.

Corpus desk

Index FR-levain · levain · French

levain · rank #34,162 · 8 variants · 13 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #34,162
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-MID 13 pairs
  • VAR-MID 8 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,567
  • PHOTO-FINISH Linné

Nearest frequency peer: Linné (+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.

Pairs de rang près de l'aimant d'erreurs « levain »

Même bande de rareté: utile si une faute tombe sur un lemme voisin

corpus weight

What this shows « levain » siège parmi ces pairs FrequencyWords; la profondeur des fautes est suivie à part dans le graphique d'édition.

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).

levain vs levi
67% similar
levain vs levis
67% similar
levain vs levant
67% similar

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

Key facts for levain
PropertyValue
Headwordlevain
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\lə.vɛ̃\
Letters6
Frequency rank#34,162
Misspellings tracked8
Confusable pairs13
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Fréquence de l'aimant d'erreurs « levain »

Cette échelle va du noyau du français courant (gauche) jusqu'à la traîne des formes rares (droite).levainse 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 « Linné » (#34,163), « lassant » (#34,160), « Larson » (#34,159). Parmi 2,567 lemmes en « L », « levain » est au #34,162. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 8 spelling variants around levain (IPA \lə.vɛ̃\), anoun. Corpus frequency is #34,162 among 2,567 “L” headwords. Wiktionary lists 3 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

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

  1. 1
    Morceau de pâte aigrie qui, mêlée à la pâte dont on veut faire du pain, sert à la faire lever, à la faire fermenter.
  2. 2
    Substance capable de produire une fermentation interne dans le corps avec lequel on l’a mêlé et d’y exciter un gonflement.
  3. 3
    Germes de certaines passions violentes.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Dans un coffre en bois de chêne, appelé pétrin, on introduit la quantité de farine que l’on veut convertir en pain, en l’écartant sur les bords, puis on délaye au milieu le levain avec de l’eau chaude et une partie de la farine.
  2. Levain de bière.

This word in other languages

leavening(English)masa madre(Español)Sauerteig(Deutsch)

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.

elvain2leavin2levainn1levani2levian2levvain1llevain1lveain2
Edit distance from "levain"

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 "levain"?
"levain" is spelled L-E-V-A-I-N. The IPA pronunciation is \lə.vɛ̃\.
What does "levain" mean?
As a noun, "levain" means: Morceau de pâte aigrie qui, mêlée à la pâte dont on veut faire du pain, sert à la faire lever, à la faire fermenter.
What words are commonly confused with "levain"?
"levain" is commonly confused with "levi", "levis", "levant". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "levain"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "levain" is \lə.vɛ̃\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "levain" come from?
"levain" 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 "levain", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked French headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Larson#34,159longer#34,166loubet#34,168kaplan#34,151

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (8 here; floor ≥5).

moquez8 variantsmords8 variantshydra8 variantsmourait8 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list