parfum

\paʁ.fœ̃\

/\paʁ.fœ̃\/ noun

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

The verdict

“parfum” has 9 generated spelling variants in the French index at frequency #4,697. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#4,697
frequency rank, French
6,826
“P” headwords
9
tracked misspellings
6
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Odeur aromatique, agréable, plus ou moins forte, plus ou moins subtile et suave, qui s’exhale d’une substance quelconque et particulièrement des fleurs.

Corpus desk

Index FR-parfum · parfum · French

parfum · rank #4,697 · 9 variants · 6 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #4,697
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-MID 6 pairs
  • VAR-MID 9 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 6,826
  • PHOTO-FINISH occidentale

Nearest frequency peer: occidentale (-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 « parfum »

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

corpus weight

What this shows « parfum » 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).

parfum vs paru
67% similar
parfum vs parue
67% similar
parfum vs parus
67% similar

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

Key facts for parfum
PropertyValue
Headwordparfum
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\paʁ.fœ̃\
Letters6
Frequency rank#4,697
Misspellings tracked9
Confusable pairs6
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Fréquence de l'aimant d'erreurs « parfum »

Cette échelle va du noyau du français courant (gauche) jusqu'à la traîne des formes rares (droite).parfumse place ici:

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

L'échelle est logarithmique (chaque tic ≈ 10× plus rare). Dans la même bande de rareté figurent « occidentale » (#4,696), « passages » (#4,698), « mécanisme » (#4,695). Parmi 6,826 lemmes en « P », « parfum » est au #4,697. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 9 spelling variants around parfum (IPA \paʁ.fœ̃\), anoun. Corpus frequency is #4,697 among 6,826 “P” headwords. Wiktionary lists 5 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 9 likely wrong-spelling variants for parfum, with forms such as "aprfum", "pafrum", and "parffum". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 6 confusable-pair relationships, "paru", "parue", "parus", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Our source data has no etymology on file for this entry, so its spelling pattern is best understood through pronunciation rather than a traceable origin. The correct French form is parfum, spelled P-A-R-F-U-M.

Definition

  1. 1
    Odeur aromatique, agréable, plus ou moins forte, plus ou moins subtile et suave, qui s’exhale d’une substance quelconque et particulièrement des fleurs.
  2. 2
    Produit industriel ou artisanal, extrait de certaines fleurs ou obtenus par des procédés chimiques, et dont il s’exhale une odeur agréable.
  3. 3
    Lors des épisodes de peste à la fin du XVIIᵉ siècle, fumigation utilisée pour préserver ou désinfecter les maisons de la maladie.
  4. 4
    Effet subtil et durable d’une réalité agréable.
  5. 5
    Rappel ; ressemblance.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Qu’ai-je besoin de demander aux choses d’autres jouissances que celle de leur présence, c’est-à-dire leur beauté et leur parfum ?
  2. On fait preuve d’imagination, même si les plats sont archi-simples, on s’efforce de présenter un plat comme une œuvre d’art, on exalte ses parfums, bref on rend hommage à l’aliment.

Synonyms

arômefragranceodeurallusionévocation

This word in other languages

smell(English)perfume(Español)Wohlgeruch(Deutsch)fragrância(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • aprfum
  • pafrum
  • parffum
  • parfmu
  • parfumm
  • parrfum
  • parufm
  • pparfum
  • prafum

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

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

aprfum2pafrum2parffum1parfmu2parfumm1parrfum1parufm2pparfum1
Edit distance from "parfum"

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 "parfum"?
"parfum" is spelled P-A-R-F-U-M. The IPA pronunciation is \paʁ.fœ̃\.
What does "parfum" mean?
As a noun, "parfum" means: Odeur aromatique, agréable, plus ou moins forte, plus ou moins subtile et suave, qui s’exhale d’une substance quelconque et particulièrement des fleurs.
What words are commonly confused with "parfum"?
"parfum" is commonly confused with "paru", "parue", "parus". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "parfum"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "parfum" is \paʁ.fœ̃\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "parfum" come from?
"parfum" 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 "parfum", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked French headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

lâcher#4,689Jérôme#4,685sexuel#4,712statue#4,718

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (9 here; floor ≥5).

guitare9 variantsconclu9 variantsblonde9 variantsdragon9 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list