microbe
\mi.kʁɔb\
The verdict
“microbe” is a moderately-common French word, ranked #40,867 in French word frequency and used as a noun.
- #40,867
- frequency rank, French
- 7
- letters
- 10
- tracked misspellings
- 4
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Organisme vivant qui ne peut être vu qu’en utilisant un microscope.
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 | microbe |
| Language | French |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | \mi.kʁɔb\ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Frequency rank | #40,867 |
| Misspellings tracked | 10 |
| Confusable pairs | 4 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “microbe” sits in French frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The French entry for microbe is 7 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as \mi.kʁɔb\. Corpus data places it at rank #40,867 in overall French word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 5 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 10 likely wrong-spelling variants for microbe, with forms such as "imcrobe", "mcirobe", and "miccrobe". 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 4 confusable-pair relationships, "micros", "microns", "microbes", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
This entry carries no recorded etymology, so its spelling is best explained by sound-to-letter mapping rather than etymology. The correct French form is microbe, spelled M-I-C-R-O-B-E.
Definition
- 1Organisme vivant qui ne peut être vu qu’en utilisant un microscope.
- 2Avorton, nain, personne de petite taille.
- 3Tout agent pathogène, vecteur de transmission invisible.
- 4Personne méprisable, malfaisante, qui répand le mal.
- 5Enfant criminel, souvent issu de la rue.
Synonyms
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: imcrobe,mcirobe,miccrobe,micorbe,micrboe,microbbe,microeb,micrrobe,mircobe,mmicrobe
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of microbe - 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.
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
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Using “microbe”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct French spelling is M-I-C-R-O-B-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as \mi.kʁɔb\ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “micros” - see the side-by-side comparison. microbe vs micros
- 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.