outil

\u.ti\

/\u.ti\/ noun

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

The verdict

“outil” has 6 generated spelling variants in the French index at frequency #2,943. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#2,943
frequency rank, French
1,642
“O” headwords
6
tracked misspellings
15
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Instrument dont les artisans, les jardiniers, etc., se servent pour leur travail.

Corpus desk

Index FR-outil · outil · French

outil · rank #2,943 · 6 variants · 15 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #2,943
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-MID 15 pairs
  • VAR-MID 6 variants
  • BOOK-MID 1,642
  • PHOTO-FINISH organisations

Nearest frequency peer: organisations (-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 « outil »

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

corpus weight

What this shows « outil » 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).

outil vs outré
60% similar
outil vs outils
83% similar
outil vs oui
60% similar

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

Key facts for outil
PropertyValue
Headwordoutil
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\u.ti\
Letters5
Frequency rank#2,943
Misspellings tracked6
Confusable pairs15
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Fréquence de l'aimant d'erreurs « outil »

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

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

L'axe est logarithmique: chaque tic marque environ dix fois moins de fréquence. Dans la même bande de rareté figurent « organisations » (#2,942), « paiement » (#2,944), « oreilles » (#2,941). Parmi 1,642 lemmes en « O », « outil » est au #2,943. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 6 spelling variants around outil (IPA \u.ti\), anoun. Corpus frequency is #2,943 among 1,642 “O” headwords. Wiktionary lists 4 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 6 likely wrong-spelling variants for outil, with forms such as "otuil", "ouitl", and "outill". 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 15 confusable-pair relationships, "outré", "outils", "oui", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

This entry carries no recorded etymology, so its spelling is easiest explained by how it's pronounced rather than where it came from. The correct French form is outil, spelled O-U-T-I-L.

Definition

  1. 1
    Instrument dont les artisans, les jardiniers, etc., se servent pour leur travail.
  2. 2
    Instrument pour réaliser une action.
  3. 3
    Synonyme de corégone oxyrhynque (poisson).
  4. 4
    Personne maladroite.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. L'un d'eux, le plus petit, tira de sa poche un outil qui pouvait bien être un ciseau à froid et se mit avec ardeur à desceller la plaque en pratiquant des pesées de place en place.
  2. […] ; jadis, on croyait que la férule était l’outil le plus nécessaire pour le maître d'école ; aujourd'hui, les peines corporelles ont disparu de notre enseignement public.

This word in other languages

tool(English)herramienta(Español)Werkzeug(Deutsch)ferramenta(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • otuil
  • ouitl
  • outill
  • outli
  • outtil
  • uotil

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

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

otuil2ouitl2outill1outli2outtil1uotil2
Edit distance from "outil"

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 "outil"?
"outil" is spelled O-U-T-I-L. The IPA pronunciation is \u.ti\.
What does "outil" mean?
As a noun, "outil" means: Instrument dont les artisans, les jardiniers, etc., se servent pour leur travail.
What words are commonly confused with "outil"?
"outil" is commonly confused with "outré", "outils", "oui". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "outil"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "outil" is \u.ti\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "outil" come from?
"outil" 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 "outil", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked French headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

queue#2,954henry#2,930fêtes#2,929tests#2,968

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (6 here; floor ≥5).

fausse6 variantssexy6 variantsnews6 variantsfillon6 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list