lieutenant

\ljøt.nɑ̃\

/\ljøt.nɑ̃\/ noun

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

The verdict

“lieutenant” has 14 generated spelling variants in the French index at frequency #2,523. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#2,523
frequency rank, French
2,567
“L” headwords
14
tracked misspellings
1
confusable pair

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Celui qui est immédiatement au-dessous d’un chef, qu’il supplée dans certains cas.

Corpus desk

Index FR-lieutenant · lieutenant · French

lieutenant · rank #2,523 · 14 variants · 1 confusable

  • FREQ-COMMON #2,523
  • LEN-MEGA 10 letters
  • VOW-5 5 vowels
  • CONFUS-LOW 1 pairs
  • VAR-HIGH 14 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,567
  • PHOTO-FINISH jambes

Nearest frequency peer: jambes (-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 « lieutenant »

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

corpus weight

What this shows « lieutenant » 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).

lieutenant vs lieutenants
91% similar

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

Key facts for lieutenant
PropertyValue
Headwordlieutenant
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\ljøt.nɑ̃\
Letters10
Frequency rank#2,523
Misspellings tracked14
Confusable pairs1
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Fréquence de l'aimant d'erreurs « lieutenant »

La fréquence va de la poignée de mots du quotidien (gauche) à la longue queue presque jamais vue (droite).lieutenantse 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 « jambes » (#2,522), « live » (#2,524), « installer » (#2,520). Parmi 2,567 lemmes en « L », « lieutenant » est au #2,523. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 14 spelling variants around lieutenant (IPA \ljøt.nɑ̃\), anoun. Corpus frequency is #2,523 among 2,567 “L” headwords. Wiktionary lists 7 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 14 likely wrong-spelling variants for lieutenant, with forms such as "ileutenant", "leiutenant", and "lietuenant". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 1 confusable-pair relationship, "lieutenants", since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

This entry's etymology isn't recorded, so its spelling is easiest to reason about phoneme by phoneme, absent a documented history. The correct French form is lieutenant, spelled L-I-E-U-T-E-N-A-N-T.

Definition

  1. 1
    Celui qui est immédiatement au-dessous d’un chef, qu’il supplée dans certains cas.
  2. 2
    Grade donné à un officier subalterne. En France, dans l’armée de terre, l’armée de l’air et la gendarmerie nationale, il est situé entre son supérieur hiérarchique, le capitaine, et son subordonné, le sous-lieutenant. Ce grade correspond à celui d’enseigne de vaisseau de première classe (non pas de lieutenant de vaisseau) dans la Marine nationale française.
  3. 3
    Grade existant dans un corps policier. Il peut être fédéral, provincial ou municipal.
  4. 4
    Grade d’officiers de services civils.
  5. 5
    Celui à qui le souverain déléguait dans certains cas une part de son autorité.
  6. 6
    Auxiliaire.
  7. 7
    Grade d’officier des Forces armées canadiennes.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Un combat sanglant s’ensuivit, et les troupes chérifiennes finirent par s’emparer de la place. Le lieutenant du caïd, qui avait organisé la résistance, n’eut que le temps de se jeter sur un cheval et sauva sa tête par une fuite précipitée […].
  2. '''''''''''''''

This word in other languages

lieutenant(English)teniente(Español)Oberleutnant(Deutsch)tenente(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • ileutenant
  • leiutenant
  • lietuenant
  • lieuetnant
  • lieuteannt
  • lieutenannt
  • lieutenantt
  • lieutenatn
  • lieutennant
  • lieutennat
  • lieutneant
  • lieuttenant
  • liuetenant
  • llieutenant

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of lieutenant - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.

ileutenant2leiutenant2lietuenant2lieuetnant2lieuteannt2lieutenannt1lieutenantt1lieutenatn2
Edit distance from "lieutenant"

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 "lieutenant"?
"lieutenant" is spelled L-I-E-U-T-E-N-A-N-T. The IPA pronunciation is \ljøt.nɑ̃\.
What does "lieutenant" mean?
As a noun, "lieutenant" means: Celui qui est immédiatement au-dessous d’un chef, qu’il supplée dans certains cas.
What words are commonly confused with "lieutenant"?
"lieutenant" is commonly confused with "lieutenants". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "lieutenant"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "lieutenant" is \ljøt.nɑ̃\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "lieutenant" come from?
"lieutenant" 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 "lieutenant", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked French headwords with 10 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

partenaire#2,532chaussures#2,509catholique#2,507Washington#2,553

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (14 here; floor ≥5).

champions14 variantsdifférente14 variantssuffisamment14 variantsministres14 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list