mettre le feu

\mɛ.tʁə lə fø\

/\mɛ.tʁə lə fø\/ verb

The verdict

“mettre le feu” is uncommon French (outside the top frequency list), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency French
13
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Allumer un feu, le plus souvent dans des circonstances anormales, par inadvertance, négligence, malveillance, etc.

Corpus desk

Index FR-mettre-le-feu · mettre le feu · French

mettre le feu · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-MEGA 13 letters
  • VOW-5 5 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "M" thin
  • PHOTO-UNK Peer pending

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.

Key facts for mettre le feu
PropertyValue
Headwordmettre le feu
LanguageFrench
Part of speechVerb
IPA\mɛ.tʁə lə fø\
Letters13
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Longue queue: rang de « mettre le feu » en français

mettre le feusiège au-delà des 100.000 formes les plus fréquentes du français, dans la traîne du lexique spécialisé ou peu usité.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

mettre le feu is uncommon French outside the top frequency list, classed as averb, transcribed \mɛ.tʁə lə fø\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.

The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for mettre le feu, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.

No borrowing history is documented for this entry, so its spelling is best read as a straightforward mapping from sound to letter. The correct French form is mettre le feu, spelled M-E-T-T-R-E- -L-E- -F-E-U.

Definition

  1. 1
    Allumer un feu, le plus souvent dans des circonstances anormales, par inadvertance, négligence, malveillance, etc.
  2. 2
    Provoquer une bagarre, un conflit.
  3. 3
    Exciter ; provoquer une ambiance festive.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Les mines sont étançonnées et étayées avec du bois auquel on met le feu, ce qui fait tomber une partie des défenses de la barbacane.
  2. Mais au lieu des secours attendus, ses habitants ne reçurent de Joseph I que l'ordre de l'évacuer. Ils obéirent malgré eux, mais non sans avoir encloué leur artillerie et mis le feu à leurs maisons et aux poudres.

This word in other languages

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "mettre le feu"?
"mettre le feu" is spelled M-E-T-T-R-E- -L-E- -F-E-U. The IPA pronunciation is \mɛ.tʁə lə fø\.
What does "mettre le feu" mean?
As a verb, "mettre le feu" means: Allumer un feu, le plus souvent dans des circonstances anormales, par inadvertance, négligence, malveillance, etc.
How do you pronounce "mettre le feu"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "mettre le feu" is \mɛ.tʁə lə fø\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "mettre le feu" come from?
"mettre le feu" 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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list