observance
\ɔp.sɛʁ.vɑ̃s\
The verdict
“observance” has 15 generated spelling variants in the French index at frequency #34,642. The variants make it a useful spelling check.
- #34,642
- frequency rank, French
- 1,642
- “O” headwords
- 15
- tracked misspellings
- 2
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 2, 2026) - Pratique d’une règle, exécution de ce que prescrit une règle, et souvent une règle religieuse.
Corpus desk
Index FR-observance · observance · French
observance · rank #34,642 · 15 variants · 2 confusables
- FREQ-MID #34,642
- LEN-MEGA 10 letters
- VOW-4 4 vowels
- CONFUS-LOW 2 pairs
- VAR-HIGH 15 variants
- BOOK-MID 1,642
- PHOTO-FINISH oder
Nearest frequency peer: oder (+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 “observance”
Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)
- nigériane
nigériane
65,362 corpus weight
- nivelles
nivelles
65,361 corpus weight
- observance
observance
65,359 corpus weight
- oder
oder
65,358 corpus weight
- Odyssey
Odyssey
65,357 corpus weight
- Ogier
Ogier
65,356 corpus weight
What this shows Bars show where “observance” sits against the nearest ranked French headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.
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 | observance |
| Language | French |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | \ɔp.sɛʁ.vɑ̃s\ |
| Letters | 10 |
| Frequency rank | #34,642 |
| Misspellings tracked | 15 |
| Confusable pairs | 2 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “observance” sits in French frequency
A misspelling magnet
The generator records 15 spelling variants around observance (IPA \ɔp.sɛʁ.vɑ̃s\), anoun. Corpus frequency is #34,642 among 1,642 “O” headwords. Wiktionary lists 4 senses, so context still picks the gloss.
Our generated misspelling index lists 15 likely wrong-spelling variants for observance, with forms such as "boservance", "obbservance", and "obesrvance". 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 2 confusable-pair relationships, "observant", "observable", 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 is best explained by sound-to-letter mapping rather than etymology. The correct French form is observance, spelled O-B-S-E-R-V-A-N-C-E.
Definition
- 1Pratique d’une règle, exécution de ce que prescrit une règle, et souvent une règle religieuse.
- 2Degré de concordance entre le comportement d’un individu et les prescriptions médicales qu’il a reçues.
- 3Cette règle, cette loi religieuse.
- 4Ordre religieux où la règle monastique s’observe strictement.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how observance appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Les observances ne sont pas les mêmes pour une paysanne qui moissonne, pour une ouvrière à quinze sous par jour, pour la fille d’un petit détaillant, pour la jeune bourgeoise, pour l’enfant d’une riche maison de commerce, pour la jeune héritière d’une noble famille, ….
Magie des apparences qui me fait parler du train accoutumé de notre vie, alors que le fond même en était changé à jamais ! Étais-je donc la dupe de cette observance de nos habitudes ? Ne savais-je pas qu’au milieu de tant de choses coutumières, j’apportais un cœur nouveau ?
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as:
- boservance
- obbservance
- obesrvance
- obseravnce
- obserrvance
- observacne
- observancce
- observanec
- observannce
- observnace
- observvance
- obsevrance
- obsrevance
- obsservance
- osbervance
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of observance - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.
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.
PlainSpell is rendered directly from structured Wiktionary extracts and open word-frequency lists, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of September 2, 2026. Primary sources: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) and FrequencyWords.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you spell "observance"?
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Similar French words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "observance", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked French headwords with 10 letters (nearest by frequency rank).
Similar misspelling depth
Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (15 here; floor ≥5).
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.