ligature

/\li.ɡa.tyʁ\/ noun

Letters

8 characters

Frequency Rank

#46,269

in French word usage

Misspellings

11

tracked variants

Confusables

1

similar word pairs

ligature is aFrenchnoun. It means: Nœud de fil, de soie, etc., avec lequel on serre un vaisseau pour prévenir ou arrêter l’écoulement du sang. Pronounced \li.ɡa.tyʁ\. Often confused with ligure.

Key facts for ligature
PropertyValue
Headwordligature
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\li.ɡa.tyʁ\
Letters8
Frequency rank#46,269
Misspellings tracked11
Confusable pairs1
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency rank visualization

Position of ligature in French word frequency (lower rank = more common)

Source: Wordfreq corpus

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The French entry for ligature is 8 letters long, classified as anoun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as \li.ɡa.tyʁ\. Corpus data places it at rank #46,269 in overall French word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it.Wiktionary records 9 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our Hunspell-derived misspelling index lists 11 documented wrong-spelling variants for ligature, with forms such as "ilgature", "lgiature", and "liagture". Each variant represents a distinct typo pattern that appears often enough in corpora to be worth flagging, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution.It also participates in 1 confusable-pair relationship, "ligure", where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

No explicit etymology string is stored for this entry, so spelling patterns must be inferred from the word's phoneme-to-grapheme mapping rather than from a documented borrowing chain. For readers arriving here from a spelling check, the authoritative guidance is: the correct French form is ligature, spelled L-I-G-A-T-U-R-E, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.

Definition

  1. 1
    Nœud de fil, de soie, etc., avec lequel on serre un vaisseau pour prévenir ou arrêter l’écoulement du sang.
  2. 2
    Action, manière de placer ce nœud.
  3. 3
    Lien de caoutchouc avec lequel on serre la partie supérieure du bras pour faire une piqûre intraveineuse ou une saignée.
  4. 4
    Lettres liées ensemble et quelquefois de mots entiers dont toutes les lettres sont unies les unes aux autres d’un seul trait.
  5. 5
    Formation d’une liaison phosphodiester entre deux polynucléotides.
  6. 6
    Organe servant à maintenir l’anche sur le bec d’un instrument à anche.
  7. 7
    Barre ou barres liant plusieurs hampes de croches ou de ses subdivisions entre elles afin d'indiquer leur valeurs de temps.
  8. 8
    Signe indiquant une syncope.
  9. 9
    Morceau de filin servant à lier provisoirement.

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: ilgature,lgiature,liagture,ligatrue,ligatture,ligatuer,ligaturre,ligautre,liggature,ligtaure,lligature

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

Relative frequency of common misspelling types for ligature

Misspelling Variants of "ligature"

ilgature8lgiature8liagture8ligatrue8ligatture9ligatuer8ligaturre9ligautre8
Misspelling Variants of "ligature"

Frequency rank: #46,269 in French

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "ligature"?
"ligature" is spelled L-I-G-A-T-U-R-E. The IPA pronunciation is \li.ɡa.tyʁ\.
What does "ligature" mean?
As a noun, "ligature" means: Nœud de fil, de soie, etc., avec lequel on serre un vaisseau pour prévenir ou arrêter l’écoulement du sang.
What words are commonly confused with "ligature"?
"ligature" is commonly confused with "ligure". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "ligature"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "ligature" is \li.ɡa.tyʁ\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "ligature" come from?
"ligature" is a French word. PlainSpell covers definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German.
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.

Nearby French words

Other entries that begin with the letter L in our French index:

Explore PlainSpell

Data Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Frequency data from Wordfreq. Misspellings derived from Hunspell dictionaries.