lire
\liʁ\
The verdict
“lire” is in the everyday core of French, ranked #491 in French word frequency and used as a verb.
- #491
- frequency rank, French
- 4
- letters
- 4
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Interpréter des informations écrites sous forme de mots ou de dessins sur un support.
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 | lire |
| Language | French |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | \liʁ\ |
| Letters | 4 |
| Frequency rank | #491 |
| Misspellings tracked | 4 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “lire” sits in French frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The French entry for lire is 4 letters long, classified as a verb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as \liʁ\. Corpus data places it at rank #491 in overall French word frequency, putting it firmly in the everyday core of the language. Wiktionary records 10 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 4 likely wrong-spelling variants for lire, with forms such as "ilre", "lirre", and "llire". 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 20 confusable-pair relationships, "LR", "lit", "lis", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.
Wiktionary doesn't record an etymology for this headword, so its spelling is best explained by sound-to-letter mapping rather than etymology. The correct French form is lire, spelled L-I-R-E.
Definition
- 1Interpréter des informations écrites sous forme de mots ou de dessins sur un support.
- 2Suivre des yeux ce qui est écrit ou imprimé, avec la connaissance des sons que les lettres figurent ; soit en ne proférant pas les mots, soit en les proférant à haute voix.
- 3Prendre connaissance et comprendre un texte écrit.
- 4Comprendre ce qui est écrit ou imprimé dans une langue étrangère.
- 5Parcourir des yeux une musique notée, avec la connaissance des sons que les notes figurent et des diverses modifications que ces sons doivent recevoir.
- 6Prononcer à haute voix, avec l’intonation voulue, ce qui est écrit ou imprimé.
- 7S’instruire, s’amuser, s’informer, etc. par la lecture.
- 8Se dit encore en parlant de quelque livre qu’un professeur explique ou fait expliquer à ses auditeurs et qu’il prend pour sujet des leçons qu’il leur donne.
- 9Comprendre par l'observation un sens caché qui est au-delà des apparences.
- 10Lancer un fichier vidéo ou audio pour le regarder ou l’écouter.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: ilre,lirre,llire,lrie
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of lire - 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
How do you spell "lire"?
What does "lire" mean?
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Is PlainSpell free to use?
Using “lire”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct French spelling is L-I-R-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as \liʁ\ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “LR” - see the side-by-side comparison. lire vs LR
- 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.