matériel
\ma.te.ʁjɛl\
The verdict
“matériel” is a regularly-used French word, ranked #1,743 in French word frequency and used as an adjective.
- #1,743
- frequency rank, French
- 8
- letters
- 12
- tracked misspellings
- 8
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Qui est formé de matière.
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 | matériel |
| Language | French |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | \ma.te.ʁjɛl\ |
| Letters | 8 |
| Frequency rank | #1,743 |
| Misspellings tracked | 12 |
| Confusable pairs | 8 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “matériel” sits in French frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The French entry for matériel is 8 letters long, classified as an adjective, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as \ma.te.ʁjɛl\. Corpus data places it at rank #1,743 in overall French word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 4 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 12 likely wrong-spelling variants for matériel, with forms such as "amtériel", "materiel", and "matréiel". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 8 confusable-pair relationships, "maternel", "matériels", "maternels", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.
No borrowing history is documented for this entry, so its spelling is easiest explained by how it's pronounced rather than where it came from. The correct French form is matériel, spelled M-A-T-É-R-I-E-L.
Definition
- 1Qui est formé de matière.
- 2Qui a rapport à la matière, qui tient de la matière.
- 3Qui ne s’attache guère qu’aux choses de la matière.
- 4Dans l’ancienne philosophie scolastique, signifiait qui est opposé à formel.
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: amtériel,materiel,matréiel,mattériel,matéirel,matéreil,matériell,matérile,matérriel,maétriel,mmatériel,mtaériel
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of matériel - 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 "matériel"?
What does "matériel" mean?
What words are commonly confused with "matériel"?
How do you pronounce "matériel"?
What language does "matériel" come from?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Using “matériel”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct French spelling is M-A-T-É-R-I-E-L - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as \ma.te.ʁjɛl\ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “maternel” - see the side-by-side comparison. matériel vs maternel
- 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.