ours

\uʁs\

/\uʁs\/ noun

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

The verdict

“ours” has 5 generated spelling variants in the French index at frequency #4,358. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#4,358
frequency rank, French
1,642
“O” headwords
5
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Plantigrade, carnassier ou omnivore, à fourrure épaisse, de la famille des ursidés.

Corpus desk

Index FR-ours · ours · French

ours · rank #4,358 · 5 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #4,358
  • LEN-MID 4 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 5 variants
  • BOOK-MID 1,642
  • PHOTO-FINISH négatif

Nearest frequency peer: négatif (-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.

Pairs de rang près de l'aimant d'erreurs « ours »

Même bande de rareté: utile si une faute tombe sur un lemme voisin

corpus weight

What this shows « ours » siège parmi ces pairs FrequencyWords; la profondeur des fautes est suivie à part dans le graphique d'édition.

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).

ours vs out
50% similar
ours vs oust
50% similar
ours vs ouvre
60% similar

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

Key facts for ours
PropertyValue
Headwordours
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\uʁs\
Letters4
Frequency rank#4,358
Misspellings tracked5
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Fréquence de l'aimant d'erreurs « ours »

Cette échelle va du noyau du français courant (gauche) jusqu'à la traîne des formes rares (droite).oursse 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 « négatif » (#4,357), « ouverts » (#4,359), « naturels » (#4,356). Parmi 1,642 lemmes en « O », « ours » est au #4,358. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 5 spelling variants around ours (IPA \uʁs\), anoun. Corpus frequency is #4,358 among 1,642 “O” headwords. Wiktionary lists 10 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 5 likely wrong-spelling variants for ours, with forms such as "orus", "ourrs", and "ourss". 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, "out", "oust", "ouvre", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

No borrowing history is documented for this entry, so its spelling pattern is best understood through pronunciation rather than a traceable origin. The correct French form is ours, spelled O-U-R-S.

Definition

  1. 1
    Plantigrade, carnassier ou omnivore, à fourrure épaisse, de la famille des ursidés.
  2. 2
    Homme qui fuit la société, rustre ou rustaud.
  3. 3
    Homme porté à suivre ses bas instincts.
  4. 4
    Prison.
  5. 5
    Meuble représentant l’animal du même nom dans les armoiries. Il n’a pas de position particulière, elle doit donc être blasonnée.
  6. 6
    Ouvrier typographe.
  7. 7
    Ouvrage non imprimé, non publié.
  8. 8
    Manuscrit d’auteur, brouillon, canevas d’un texte inachevé qui demande à être révisé.
  9. 9
    Premier montage d’un film, reportage ou documentaire.
  10. 10
    Dans l’édition, l’imprimerie et la presse, pavé, encadré ou espace qui recense les noms et adresses de l’éditeur et de l’imprimeur, et les fonctions et les noms des collaborateurs ayant participé à la fabrication de l’imprimé.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Revêtu d’un poil rude et noir, le Roi des ours Au grondement sauvage, irritable toujours, Allait, se nourrissant de miel et de bananes.
  2. La vallée, dit-il, est pleine de serpents, d’ours, d’Indiens, mais les Indiens sont friendly, des amis, et les serpents et les ours ne vous feront aucun mal à moins que vous ne les attaquiez.

Synonyms

lokis

This word in other languages

bear(English)oso(Español)Bär(Deutsch)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • orus
  • ourrs
  • ourss
  • ousr
  • uors

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of ours - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.

orus2ourrs1ourss1ousr2uors2
Edit distance from "ours"

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 "ours"?
"ours" is spelled O-U-R-S. The IPA pronunciation is \uʁs\.
What does "ours" mean?
As a noun, "ours" means: Plantigrade, carnassier ou omnivore, à fourrure épaisse, de la famille des ursidés.
What words are commonly confused with "ours"?
"ours" is commonly confused with "out", "oust", "ouvre". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "ours"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "ours" is \uʁs\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "ours" come from?
"ours" 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 "ours", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

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

sacs#4,374taxi#4,384Dose#4,324aube#4,402

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (5 here; floor ≥5).

Scott5 variantsappuie5 variantsbite5 variantsrive5 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list