orbe

\ɔʁb\

/\ɔʁb\/ noun

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

The verdict

“orbe” sits in 20 confusable pairs (corpus #34,226) as a noun. The look-alike neighbours are the real trap.

#34,226
frequency rank, French
1,642
“O” headwords
4
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Cercle.

Corpus desk

Index FR-orbe · orbe · French

orbe · rank #34,226 · 4 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #34,226
  • LEN-MID 4 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-LOW 4 variants
  • BOOK-MID 1,642
  • PHOTO-FINISH oranger

Nearest frequency peer: oranger (-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.

Voisins de fréquence du confusable « orbe »

Pairs de poids proche dans le corpus, séparés des confusables ci-dessous

corpus weight

What this shows Les barres placent « orbe » face aux lemmes français les plus proches par rang, pas un reprint du bureau des confusables.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

orbe vs ose
50% similar
orbe vs ôté
0% similar
orbe vs ors
50% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for orbe
PropertyValue
Headwordorbe
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\ɔʁb\
Letters4
Frequency rank#34,226
Misspellings tracked4
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Rang de corpus près des confusables de « orbe »

Cette échelle va du noyau du français courant (gauche) jusqu'à la traîne des formes rares (droite).orbese 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 « oranger » (#34,225), « orgasmes » (#34,227), « opale » (#34,224). Parmi 1,642 lemmes en « O », « orbe » est au #34,226. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Easy to mix with look-alikes

The spelling risk for orbe is neighbouring look-alikes ("ose", "ôté", …), not just typos; it is anoun pronounced \ɔʁb\. Frequency #34,226 among 1,642 “O” headwords. 5 recorded senses keep meaning in play.

Our generated misspelling index lists 4 likely wrong-spelling variants for orbe, with forms such as "obre", "orbbe", and "oreb". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "ose", "ôté", "ors", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Wiktionary doesn't record an etymology for this headword, so its spelling is easiest explained by how it's pronounced rather than where it came from. The correct French form is orbe, spelled O-R-B-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Cercle.
  2. 2
    Orbite ; espace circonscrit par l'orbite d'un corps céleste.
  3. 3
    Globe, corps céleste, voûte du ciel et, par extension, tout corps circulaire ou tout mouvement circulaire.
  4. 4
    Globe de commandement, qui est une des marques de la royauté.
  5. 5
    Zone d’influence ; sphère d’influence.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how orbe appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Le vieux militaire comprit ; il compta jusqu’à sept sur ses doigts, se mit à renifler fortement et à tourner son bras avec une grande vitesse. Ensuite, il compta jusqu’à neuf, lança quelques fut ! fut ! moins accentués, traça quelques orbes plus rares, s’arrêtant à diverses reprises et prenant une expression nonchalante.
  2. Quelques maigres sapins croissaient au milieu des quartiers de rocs, sur le flanc déchiré du précipice ; ils s’engagèrent dans l’orbe d’une de nos roues et arrêtèrent ainsi les bonds de la calèche, qui resta suspendue au- dessus de l’abîme.

This word in other languages

orb(English)orbe(Español)Reichsapfel(Deutsch)orbe(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • obre
  • orbbe
  • oreb
  • orrbe

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of orbe - 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.

obre2orbbe1oreb2orrbe1
Edit distance from "orbe"

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 "orbe"?
"orbe" is spelled O-R-B-E. The IPA pronunciation is \ɔʁb\.
What does "orbe" mean?
As a noun, "orbe" means: Cercle.
What words are commonly confused with "orbe"?
"orbe" is commonly confused with "ose", "ôté", "ors". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "orbe"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "orbe" is \ɔʁb\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "orbe" come from?
"orbe" is a French word. PlainSpell's reference spans five languages -- English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German -- with definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for each.
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 "orbe", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked French headwords with 4 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

orme#34,228peck#34,243pike#34,250mors#34,201

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list