nab

\næb\

/\næb\/ verb

The verdict

“nab” is uncommon French (frequency #86,952 among 1,563 “N” headwords), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#86,952
frequency rank, French
1,563
“N” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Voler (prendre illégalement)

Corpus desk

Index FR-nab · nab · French

nab · rank #86,952 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #86,952
  • LEN-MID 3 letters
  • VOW-1 1 vowel
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 1,563
  • PHOTO-FINISH naba

Nearest frequency peer: naba (+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.

Frequency neighbourhood for “nab”

Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)

corpus weight

What this shows Bars show where “nab” sits against the nearest ranked French headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for nab
PropertyValue
Headwordnab
LanguageFrench
Part of speechVerb
IPA\næb\
Letters3
Frequency rank#86,952
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Où “nab” se place dans la fréquence du français

De gauche à droite: le peu qui porte la parole quotidienne, puis la longue queue quasi invisible.nabse place ici:

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

Les tics avancent en logarithme; chacun est de l'ordre de dix fois plus rare. Dans la même bande de rareté figurent « naba » (#86,953), « métropolisation » (#86,950), « Nancéien » (#86,954). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

nab is uncommon French at frequency #86,952 among 1,563 “N” headwords, classed as averb, transcribed \næb\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for nab, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable French rules. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.

Wiktionary doesn't record an etymology for this headword, so its spelling is easiest to reason about phoneme by phoneme, absent a documented history. The correct French form is nab, spelled N-A-B.

Definition

  1. 1
    Voler (prendre illégalement)
  2. 2
    Saisir, agripper.

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 "nab"?
"nab" is spelled N-A-B. The IPA pronunciation is \næb\.
What does "nab" mean?
As a verb, "nab" means: Voler (prendre illégalement)
How do you pronounce "nab"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "nab" is \næb\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "nab" come from?
"nab" 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.

Similar French words by spelling shape

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

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked French headwords with 3 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

What to do next

You've looked up "nab". Here's where to go from here.

PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.

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