lieutenant-colonel
\ljøt.nɑ̃.kɔ.lɔ.nɛl\
The verdict
“lieutenant-colonel” is uncommon French (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency French
- 18
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Grade donné à un officier supérieur. En France, dans l’armée de terre, l’armée de l’air et la gendarmerie nationale de France, il est situé entre son supérieur hiérarchique, le colonel, et son subo...
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | lieutenant-colonel |
| Language | French |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | \ljøt.nɑ̃.kɔ.lɔ.nɛl\ |
| Letters | 18 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “lieutenant-colonel” sits in French frequency
Rare enough to double-check
lieutenant-colonel is uncommon French outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed \ljøt.nɑ̃.kɔ.lɔ.nɛl\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.
Zero misspellings are on record for lieutenant-colonel in our index, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.
This entry's etymology isn't recorded, so any spelling logic here comes from how the word's sounds map to letters, not a documented origin story. The correct French form is lieutenant-colonel, spelled L-I-E-U-T-E-N-A-N-T---C-O-L-O-N-E-L.
Definition
- 1Grade donné à un officier supérieur. En France, dans l’armée de terre, l’armée de l’air et la gendarmerie nationale de France, il est situé entre son supérieur hiérarchique, le colonel, et son subordonné, le commandant (armée de terre, armée de l’air) ou le chef d’escadron (gendarmerie), correspondant à celui de capitaine de frégate dans la Marine nationale française. Le code OTAN : OF-4.
- 2Officier supérieur de ce grade, situé entre son supérieur hiérarchique, le colonel, et son subordonné, le commandant.
- 3Grade d’officier des Forces armées canadiennes.
This word in other languages
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
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Using “lieutenant-colonel”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct French spelling is L-I-E-U-T-E-N-A-N-T---C-O-L-O-N-E-L - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as \ljøt.nɑ̃.kɔ.lɔ.nɛl\ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- 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.