marteau

\maʁ.to\

/\maʁ.to\/ noun

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

The verdict

“marteau” is a regularly-used French word, ranked #8,423 in French word frequency and used as a noun.

#8,423
frequency rank, French
7
letters
9
tracked misspellings
14
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Outil de fer qui a un manche, ordinairement de bois, et qui est propre à battre, forger, cogner, enfoncer.

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

marteau vs moreau
71% similar
marteau vs martel
71% similar
marteau vs Martha
57% similar

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

Key facts for marteau
PropertyValue
Headwordmarteau
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\maʁ.to\
Letters7
Frequency rank#8,423
Misspellings tracked9
Confusable pairs14
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “marteau” sits in French frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). marteau lands here:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The French entry for marteau is 7 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as \maʁ.to\. Corpus data places it at rank #8,423 in overall French word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 13 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our generated misspelling index lists 9 likely wrong-spelling variants for marteau, with forms such as "amrteau", "maretau", and "marrteau". 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 14 confusable-pair relationships, "moreau", "martel", "Martha", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

This entry carries no recorded etymology, 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 marteau, spelled M-A-R-T-E-A-U.

Definition

  1. 1
    Outil de fer qui a un manche, ordinairement de bois, et qui est propre à battre, forger, cogner, enfoncer.
  2. 2
    Objet de bois muni d’un manche, qui permet à la personne qui dirige la séance d’attirer l’attention ou de ponctuer une décision en frappant sur la table.
  3. 3
    Sorte d’anneau ou de battant de fer qui est attaché au milieu d’une porte à l’extérieur et avec lequel on frappe pour se faire ouvrir.
  4. 4
    Grêlon.
  5. 5
    Osselet de l’oreille moyenne qui est en contact avec le tympan.
  6. 6
    Petite tringle de bois que l’on fait mouvoir en touchant le clavier d’un piano et dont une extrémité, garnie de peau, sert à frapper les cordes de l’instrument.
  7. 7
    Élément d’une horloge qui frappe sur le timbre pour annoncer les heures.
  8. 8
    Autre nom du requin-marteau.
  9. 9
    Boulet d’acier fixé à un câble également en acier utilisé en athlétisme dans la discipline du lancer de marteau.
  10. 10
    Outil de métal portant une hachette d’un côté et une marque en relief de l’autre : on imprime cette marque sur des arbres en les frappant soit sur la section s’ils sont abattus, soit sur un flache avec la partie faisant fonction de hachette.
  11. 11
    Meuble représentant l’outil du même nom dans les armoiries. Sa position ordinaire est en pal, fer vers le chef. Quand son manche est d’un autre émail, il est emmanché. À rapprocher de maillet, masse et massette.
  12. 12
    Molaire.
  13. 13
    Élément d'une machine à écrire, sur lequel sont fixés 1 ou 2 caractères et frappant la feuille au travers du ruban encreur pour y imprimer le caractère.

Synonyms

darracqheurtoirmalleus

This word in other languages

hammer(English)martillo(Español)Hammer(Deutsch)martelo(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: amrteau,maretau,marrteau,martaeu,marteua,martteau,matreau,mmarteau,mrateau

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of marteau - 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.

amrteau2maretau2marrteau1martaeu2marteua2martteau1matreau2mmarteau1
Edit distance from "marteau"

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 "marteau"?
"marteau" is spelled M-A-R-T-E-A-U. The IPA pronunciation is \maʁ.to\.
What does "marteau" mean?
As a noun, "marteau" means: Outil de fer qui a un manche, ordinairement de bois, et qui est propre à battre, forger, cogner, enfoncer.
What words are commonly confused with "marteau"?
"marteau" is commonly confused with "moreau", "martel", "Martha". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "marteau"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "marteau" is \maʁ.to\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "marteau" come from?
"marteau" 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.

Using “marteau”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct French spelling is M-A-R-T-E-A-U - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as \maʁ.to\ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
  • Don't mix it up with “moreau” - see the side-by-side comparison. marteau vs moreau
  • 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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list