mettre le feu

\mɛ.tʁə lə fø\

/\mɛ.tʁə lə fø\/ verb

The verdict

“mettre le feu” is outside the top-ranked French vocabulary, used as a verb - the kind of word writers most often double-check.

Unranked
below top-frequency French
13
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Allumer un feu, le plus souvent dans des circonstances anormales, par inadvertance, négligence, malveillance, etc.

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)

Where “mettre le feu” sits in French frequency

mettre le feu falls outside the top-100,000 ranked French words, the long-tail zone of technical, archaic, or low-frequency vocabulary, exactly where readers second-guess spellings most.

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

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The French entry for mettre le feu is 13 letters long, classified as a verb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as \mɛ.tʁə lə fø\. It sits outside the most-frequent rank tiers, which is often why uncommon words generate more spelling variants per reader. Wiktionary records 3 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

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.

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.

Using “mettre le feu”

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

  • The one correct French spelling is M-E-T-T-R-E- -L-E- -F-E-U - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as \mɛ.tʁə lə fø\ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
  • 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