par cœur

\paʁ kœʁ\

/\paʁ kœʁ\/ adv

The verdict

“par cœur” is uncommon French (outside the top frequency list), classed as an adverb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency French
8
letters

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

Corpus desk

Index FR-par-c-ur · par cœur · French

par cœur · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-LONG 8 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "P" thin
  • PHOTO-UNK Peer pending

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.

Key facts for par cœur
PropertyValue
Headwordpar cœur
LanguageFrench
Part of speechAdverb
IPA\paʁ kœʁ\
Letters8
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Longue queue: rang de « par cœur » en français

par cœursiège au-delà des 100.000 formes les plus fréquentes du français, dans la traîne du lexique spécialisé ou peu usité.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

par cœur is uncommon French outside the top frequency list, classed as anadverb, transcribed \paʁ kœʁ\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.

par cœur doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, a sign its spelling follows regular French conventions. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.

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 par cœur, spelled P-A-R- -C-Œ-U-R.

Definition

  1. 1
    De mémoire.
  2. 2
    Complétement, à fond, de fond en comble. S’emploie généralement avec le verbe connaitre
  3. 3
    Sans manger.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Les maîtres d’école prétendent que ce qu’on écrit se fourre plus avant dans la cervelle que ce qu'on apprend par cœur, et que c'est pour ça qu'ils font faire des devoirs aux enfants, au lieu de se contenter de leur faire réciter des leçons.
  2. Arsène André étend ce mépris aux méthodes scolaires. […], une pédagogie qui refuse par système le bénéfice éprouvé des leçons sues par cœur.

Synonyms

sur le bout des doigtsremplacé par un coup de sifflet bref

This word in other languages

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "par cœur"?
"par cœur" is spelled P-A-R- -C-Œ-U-R. The IPA pronunciation is \paʁ kœʁ\.
What does "par cœur" mean?
As an adverb, "par cœur" means: De mémoire.
How do you pronounce "par cœur"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "par cœur" is \paʁ kœʁ\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "par cœur" come from?
"par cœur" 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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list