nocturne
\nɔk.tyʁn\
The verdict
“nocturne” is a regularly-used French word, ranked #8,129 in French word frequency and used as an adjective.
- #8,129
- frequency rank, French
- 8
- letters
- 12
- tracked misspellings
- 1
- confusable pair
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Qui a lieu ou qui arrive durant la nuit.
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 | nocturne |
| Language | French |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | \nɔk.tyʁn\ |
| Letters | 8 |
| Frequency rank | #8,129 |
| Misspellings tracked | 12 |
| Confusable pairs | 1 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “nocturne” sits in French frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The French entry for nocturne is 8 letters long, classified as an adjective, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as \nɔk.tyʁn\. Corpus data places it at rank #8,129 in overall French word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 3 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 12 likely wrong-spelling variants for nocturne, with forms such as "ncoturne", "nnocturne", and "noccturne". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 1 confusable-pair relationship, "nocturnes", a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.
Our source data has no etymology on file for this entry, leaving phoneme-to-grapheme mapping as the best guide to its spelling rather than a borrowing history. The correct French form is nocturne, spelled N-O-C-T-U-R-N-E.
Definition
- 1Qui a lieu ou qui arrive durant la nuit.
- 2Qui est actif pendant la nuit.
- 3Dont les fleurs s’ouvrent dans l’obscurité.
Synonyms
Antonyms
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: ncoturne,nnocturne,noccturne,noctrune,noctturne,noctunre,nocturen,nocturnne,nocturrne,nocutrne,notcurne,oncturne
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of nocturne - 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
How do you spell "nocturne"?
What does "nocturne" mean?
What words are commonly confused with "nocturne"?
How do you pronounce "nocturne"?
What language does "nocturne" come from?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Using “nocturne”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct French spelling is N-O-C-T-U-R-N-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as \nɔk.tyʁn\ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “nocturnes” - see the side-by-side comparison. nocturne vs nocturnes
- 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.