maintenir

\mɛ̃t.niʁ\

/\mɛ̃t.niʁ\/ verb

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

The verdict

“maintenir” has 13 generated spelling variants in the French index at frequency #2,232. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#2,232
frequency rank, French
5,038
“M” headwords
13
tracked misspellings
6
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Tenir ferme et fixe.

Corpus desk

Index FR-maintenir · maintenir · French

maintenir · rank #2,232 · 13 variants · 6 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #2,232
  • LEN-LONG 9 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-MID 6 pairs
  • VAR-HIGH 13 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 5,038
  • PHOTO-FINISH investissement

Nearest frequency peer: investissement (-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 « maintenir »

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

corpus weight

What this shows « maintenir » 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).

maintenir vs maintenu
78% similar
maintenir vs maintenue
78% similar
maintenir vs maintenus
78% similar

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

Key facts for maintenir
PropertyValue
Headwordmaintenir
LanguageFrench
Part of speechVerb
IPA\mɛ̃t.niʁ\
Letters9
Frequency rank#2,232
Misspellings tracked13
Confusable pairs6
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Fréquence de l'aimant d'erreurs « maintenir »

Cette échelle va du noyau du français courant (gauche) jusqu'à la traîne des formes rares (droite).maintenirse place ici:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

L'axe est logarithmique: chaque tic marque environ dix fois moins de fréquence. Dans la même bande de rareté figurent « investissement » (#2,231), « Maroc » (#2,233), « inutile » (#2,230). Parmi 5,038 lemmes en « M », « maintenir » est au #2,232. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 13 spelling variants around maintenir (IPA \mɛ̃t.niʁ\), averb. Corpus frequency is #2,232 among 5,038 “M” headwords. Wiktionary lists 4 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 13 likely wrong-spelling variants for maintenir, with forms such as "amintenir", "mainetnir", and "mainntenir". 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 6 confusable-pair relationships, "maintenu", "maintenue", "maintenus", and more, 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 explained by how it's pronounced rather than where it came from. The correct French form is maintenir, spelled M-A-I-N-T-E-N-I-R.

Definition

  1. 1
    Tenir ferme et fixe.
  2. 2
    Conserver dans le même état.
  3. 3
    Affirmer ; soutenir.
  4. 4
    Assurer la maintenance.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Le gars aux biques portait, sous une limousine de roulier, un bourgeron bleu serré à la taille par une ceinture rouge qui maintenait un pantalon de velours à l'instar des charbonniers auvergnats, […].
  2. Les cordelettes m’entraient dans la chair, les mains me faisaient mal et la position dans laquelle mes bras étaient maintenus me brisaient les épaules.

This word in other languages

maintain(English)mantener(Español)stemmen(Deutsch)manter(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • amintenir
  • mainetnir
  • mainntenir
  • mainteinr
  • maintenirr
  • maintennir
  • maintenri
  • maintneir
  • mainttenir
  • maitnenir
  • manitenir
  • miantenir
  • mmaintenir

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of maintenir - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.

amintenir2mainetnir2mainntenir1mainteinr2maintenirr1maintennir1maintenri2maintneir2
Edit distance from "maintenir"

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 "maintenir"?
"maintenir" is spelled M-A-I-N-T-E-N-I-R. The IPA pronunciation is \mɛ̃t.niʁ\.
What does "maintenir" mean?
As a verb, "maintenir" means: Tenir ferme et fixe.
What words are commonly confused with "maintenir"?
"maintenir" is commonly confused with "maintenu", "maintenue", "maintenus". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "maintenir"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "maintenir" is \mɛ̃t.niʁ\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "maintenir" come from?
"maintenir" 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 "maintenir", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked French headwords with 9 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

naturelle#2,235individus#2,228objectifs#2,236décisions#2,221

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (13 here; floor ≥5).

initiative13 variantsfonctionne13 variantsapparemment13 variantscentaines13 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list