paternel

\pa.tɛʁ.nɛl\

/\pa.tɛʁ.nɛl\/ adj

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

The verdict

“paternel” has 12 generated spelling variants in the French index at frequency #16,962. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#16,962
frequency rank, French
6,826
“P” headwords
12
tracked misspellings
2
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Qui a rapport au père, qui appartient au père.

Corpus desk

Index FR-paternel · paternel · French

paternel · rank #16,962 · 12 variants · 2 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #16,962
  • LEN-LONG 8 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-LOW 2 pairs
  • VAR-MID 12 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 6,826
  • PHOTO-FINISH parenthèse

Nearest frequency peer: parenthèse (-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 « paternel »

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

corpus weight

What this shows « paternel » 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).

paternel vs paternels
89% similar
paternel vs paternelle
80% similar

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

Key facts for paternel
PropertyValue
Headwordpaternel
LanguageFrench
Part of speechAdjective
IPA\pa.tɛʁ.nɛl\
Letters8
Frequency rank#16,962
Misspellings tracked12
Confusable pairs2
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Fréquence de l'aimant d'erreurs « paternel »

Cette échelle va du noyau du français courant (gauche) jusqu'à la traîne des formes rares (droite).paternelse 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 « parenthèse » (#16,961), « pathologies » (#16,963), « paf » (#16,960). Parmi 6,826 lemmes en « P », « paternel » est au #16,962. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 12 spelling variants around paternel (IPA \pa.tɛʁ.nɛl\), anadjective. Corpus frequency is #16,962 among 6,826 “P” headwords. Wiktionary lists 3 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 12 likely wrong-spelling variants for paternel, with forms such as "apternel", "paetrnel", and "patenrel". 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 2 confusable-pair relationships, "paternels", "paternelle", where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

This entry's etymology isn't recorded, so its spelling pattern is best understood through pronunciation rather than a traceable origin. The correct French form is paternel, spelled P-A-T-E-R-N-E-L.

Definition

  1. 1
    Qui a rapport au père, qui appartient au père.
  2. 2
    Qui vient du père, qui est du côté du père.
  3. 3
    Qui est tel qu’il convient à un père, tel qu’il appartient à l’état, à la qualité de père.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Deux minutes après, […], il attendait dans une posture recueillie et digne les ultimes recommandations paternelles.
  2. Il régnait, en fait, depuis la maladie de son père (1179) et n’avait négligé aucune occasion d’affirmer son autorité, en prenant le contrepied des décisions paternelles.

This word in other languages

paternal(English)väterlich(Deutsch)paterno(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • apternel
  • paetrnel
  • patenrel
  • paterenl
  • paternell
  • paternle
  • paternnel
  • paterrnel
  • patrenel
  • patternel
  • ppaternel
  • ptaernel

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

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

apternel2paetrnel2patenrel2paterenl2paternell1paternle2paternnel1paterrnel1
Edit distance from "paternel"

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 "paternel"?
"paternel" is spelled P-A-T-E-R-N-E-L. The IPA pronunciation is \pa.tɛʁ.nɛl\.
What does "paternel" mean?
As an adjective, "paternel" means: Qui a rapport au père, qui appartient au père.
What words are commonly confused with "paternel"?
"paternel" is commonly confused with "paternels", "paternelle". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "paternel"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "paternel" is \pa.tɛʁ.nɛl\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "paternel" come from?
"paternel" 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 "paternel", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked French headwords with 8 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

obligent#16,957proposez#16,973Mireille#16,946marquage#16,943

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (12 here; floor ≥5).

rebondir12 variantsinformée12 variantsindigène12 variantsTottenham12 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list