milieu
\mi.ljø\
The verdict
“milieu” is in the everyday core of French, ranked #557 in French word frequency and used as a noun.
- #557
- frequency rank, French
- 6
- letters
- 7
- tracked misspellings
- 17
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Endroit qui, dans un lieu ou un objet, est également distant de la périphérie ou des extrémités.
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 | milieu |
| Language | French |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | \mi.ljø\ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #557 |
| Misspellings tracked | 7 |
| Confusable pairs | 17 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “milieu” sits in French frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The French entry for milieu is 6 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as \mi.ljø\. Corpus data places it at rank #557 in overall French word frequency, putting it firmly in the everyday core of the language. Wiktionary records 11 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 7 likely wrong-spelling variants for milieu, with forms such as "imlieu", "miileu", and "mileiu". 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 17 confusable-pair relationships, "mille", "Miller", "milles", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.
No explicit etymology string is stored for this entry, so its spelling pattern is best understood through pronunciation rather than a traceable origin. The correct French form is milieu, spelled M-I-L-I-E-U.
Definition
- 1Endroit qui, dans un lieu ou un objet, est également distant de la périphérie ou des extrémités.
- 2Point situé à égale distance des extrémités du segment.
- 3Tout endroit qui est à une distance plus ou moins égale des extrémités, de la périphérie, sans que cela fût rigoureusement exact.
- 4Point qui est également éloigné des deux termes d’un espace de temps.
- 5Partie centrale des écrits ou des discours, par rapport à leur commencement et à leur fin.
- 6Ce qui est également éloigné de tout ce qui est extrême, exagéré, de ce qui dépasse la mesure.
- 7Substance dans laquelle un corps est placé, ou qui est traversée par un corps ou une radiation.
- 8Ensemble des conditions où vivent les animaux et les végétaux.
- 9Élément propre à la vie d’un être.
- 10Société où nous vivons.
- 11Pègre, l’ensemble des délinquants et des criminels.
Synonyms
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: imlieu,miileu,mileiu,miliue,millieu,mliieu,mmilieu
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of milieu - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.
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 “milieu”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct French spelling is M-I-L-I-E-U - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as \mi.ljø\ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “mille” - see the side-by-side comparison. milieu vs mille
- 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.