microbes

\mi.kʁɔb\

/\mi.kʁɔb\/ noun

The verdict

“microbes” has 12 generated spelling variants in the French index at frequency #20,501. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#20,501
frequency rank, French
5,038
“M” headwords
12
tracked misspellings
3
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Pluriel de microbe.

Corpus desk

Index FR-microbes · microbes · French

microbes · rank #20,501 · 12 variants · 3 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #20,501
  • LEN-LONG 8 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-LOW 3 pairs
  • VAR-MID 12 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 5,038
  • PHOTO-FINISH messes

Nearest frequency peer: messes (-1 rank slots)

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.

Pairs de rang près de l'aimant d'erreurs « microbes »

Même bande de rareté: utile si une faute tombe sur un lemme voisin

corpus weight

What this shows « microbes » siège parmi ces pairs FrequencyWords; la profondeur des fautes est suivie à part dans le graphique d'édition.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

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

microbes vs micros
75% similar
microbes vs microns
75% similar
microbes vs microbe
88% similar

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

Key facts for microbes
PropertyValue
Headwordmicrobes
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\mi.kʁɔb\
Letters8
Frequency rank#20,501
Misspellings tracked12
Confusable pairs3
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Fréquence de l'aimant d'erreurs « microbes »

La fréquence va de la poignée de mots du quotidien (gauche) à la longue queue presque jamais vue (droite).microbesse place ici:

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

L'échelle est logarithmique (chaque tic ≈ 10× plus rare). Dans la même bande de rareté figurent « messes » (#20,500), « millionnaires » (#20,502), « McLaren » (#20,499). Parmi 5,038 lemmes en « M », « microbes » est au #20,501. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 12 spelling variants around microbes (IPA \mi.kʁɔb\), anoun. Corpus frequency is #20,501 among 5,038 “M” headwords. Dominant gloss: "Pluriel de microbe.".

Our generated misspelling index lists 12 likely wrong-spelling variants for microbes, with forms such as "imcrobes", "mcirobes", and "miccrobes". 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 3 confusable-pair relationships, "micros", "microns", "microbe", since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

Wiktionary doesn't record an etymology for this headword, so its spelling pattern is best understood through pronunciation rather than a traceable origin. The correct French form is microbes, spelled M-I-C-R-O-B-E-S.

Definition

  1. 1
    Pluriel de microbe.

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

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

  1. Il se tourna vers Capevirade toujours à demi absent de ce débat où se réglait son sort, pareil au cobaye qui rongeote, indifférent, tandis que de doctes personnages s’interrogent autour de lui sur les virus et les microbes qu’on lui injectera.

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • imcrobes
  • mcirobes
  • miccrobes
  • micorbes
  • micrboes
  • microbbes
  • microbess
  • microbse
  • microebs
  • micrrobes
  • mircobes
  • mmicrobes

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

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

imcrobes2mcirobes2miccrobes1micorbes2micrboes2microbbes1microbess1microbse2
Edit distance from "microbes"

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 "microbes"?
"microbes" is spelled M-I-C-R-O-B-E-S. The IPA pronunciation is \mi.kʁɔb\.
What does "microbes" mean?
As a noun, "microbes" means: Pluriel de microbe.
What words are commonly confused with "microbes"?
"microbes" is commonly confused with "micros", "microns", "microbe". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "microbes"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "microbes" is \mi.kʁɔb\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "microbes" come from?
"microbes" is a French word. PlainSpell's reference spans five languages -- English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German -- with definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for each.
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.

Similar French words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "microbes", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked French headwords with 8 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (12 here; floor ≥5).

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list