milieu

/\mi.ljø\/ noun

Letters

6 characters

Frequency Rank

#557

in French word usage

Misspellings

7

tracked variants

Confusables

17

similar word pairs

milieu is aFrenchnoun. It means: Endroit qui, dans un lieu ou un objet, est également distant de la périphérie ou des extrémités. Pronounced \mi.ljø\. It ranks #557 in French word frequency. Often confused with mille and Miller.

Key facts for milieu
PropertyValue
Headwordmilieu
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\mi.ljø\
Letters6
Frequency rank#557
Misspellings tracked7
Confusable pairs17
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency rank visualization

Position of milieu in French word frequency (lower rank = more common)

Source: Wordfreq corpus

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The French entry for milieu is 6 letters long, classified as anoun, 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 Hunspell-derived misspelling index lists 7 documented wrong-spelling variants for milieu, with forms such as "imlieu", "miileu", and "mileiu". Each variant represents a distinct typo pattern that appears often enough in corpora to be worth flagging, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution.It also participates in 17 confusable-pair relationships, "mille", "Miller", "milles", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

No explicit etymology string is stored for this entry, so spelling patterns must be inferred from the word's phoneme-to-grapheme mapping rather than from a documented borrowing chain. For readers arriving here from a spelling check, the authoritative guidance is: the correct French form is milieu, spelled M-I-L-I-E-U, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.

Definition

  1. 1
    Endroit qui, dans un lieu ou un objet, est également distant de la périphérie ou des extrémités.
  2. 2
    Point situé à égale distance des extrémités du segment.
  3. 3
    Tout endroit qui est à une distance plus ou moins égale des extrémités, de la périphérie, sans que cela fût rigoureusement exact.
  4. 4
    Point qui est également éloigné des deux termes d’un espace de temps.
  5. 5
    Partie centrale des écrits ou des discours, par rapport à leur commencement et à leur fin.
  6. 6
    Ce qui est également éloigné de tout ce qui est extrême, exagéré, de ce qui dépasse la mesure.
  7. 7
    Substance dans laquelle un corps est placé, ou qui est traversée par un corps ou une radiation.
  8. 8
    Ensemble des conditions où vivent les animaux et les végétaux.
  9. 9
    Élément propre à la vie d’un être.
  10. 10
    Société où nous vivons.
  11. 11
    Pègre, 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

Relative frequency of common misspelling types for milieu

Misspelling Variants of "milieu"

imlieu6miileu6mileiu6miliue6millieu7mliieu6mmilieu7
Misspelling Variants of "milieu"

Frequency rank: #557 in French

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "milieu"?
"milieu" is spelled M-I-L-I-E-U. The IPA pronunciation is \mi.ljø\.
What does "milieu" mean?
As a noun, "milieu" means: Endroit qui, dans un lieu ou un objet, est également distant de la périphérie ou des extrémités.
What words are commonly confused with "milieu"?
"milieu" is commonly confused with "mille", "Miller", "milles". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "milieu"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "milieu" is \mi.ljø\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "milieu" come from?
"milieu" 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.

Nearby French words

Other entries that begin with the letter M in our French index:

Explore PlainSpell

Data Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Frequency data from Wordfreq. Misspellings derived from Hunspell dictionaries.