mot porte-manteau

\mo pɔʁt.mɑ̃.to\

/\mo pɔʁt.mɑ̃.to\/ noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

The verdict

“mot porte-manteau” is uncommon French (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency French
17
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Amalgame de mots qui n’en forment plus qu'un.

Key facts for mot porte-manteau
PropertyValue
Headwordmot porte-manteau
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\mo pɔʁt.mɑ̃.to\
Letters17
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “mot porte-manteau” sits in French frequency

mot porte-manteau 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.

Rare enough to double-check

mot porte-manteau is uncommon French outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed \mo pɔʁt.mɑ̃.to\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Amalgame de mots qui n’en forment plus qu'un.".

mot porte-manteau doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. This headword has no recorded confusable partner, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.

Wiktionary doesn't record an etymology for this headword, so its spelling is best read as a straightforward mapping from sound to letter. The correct French form is mot porte-manteau, spelled M-O-T- -P-O-R-T-E---M-A-N-T-E-A-U.

Definition

  1. 1
    Amalgame de mots qui n’en forment plus qu'un.

Synonyms

mot-valise

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 "mot porte-manteau"?
"mot porte-manteau" is spelled M-O-T- -P-O-R-T-E---M-A-N-T-E-A-U. The IPA pronunciation is \mo pɔʁt.mɑ̃.to\.
What does "mot porte-manteau" mean?
As a noun, "mot porte-manteau" means: Amalgame de mots qui n’en forment plus qu'un.
How do you pronounce "mot porte-manteau"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "mot porte-manteau" is \mo pɔʁt.mɑ̃.to\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "mot porte-manteau" come from?
"mot porte-manteau" is a French word. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for this and other words across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German on PlainSpell.
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 “mot porte-manteau”

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

  • The one correct French spelling is M-O-T- -P-O-R-T-E---M-A-N-T-E-A-U - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as \mo pɔʁt.mɑ̃.to\ (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