pavé

\pa.ve\

/\pa.ve\/ noun

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

The verdict

“pavé” is a moderately-common French word, ranked #10,549 in French word frequency and used as a noun.

#10,549
frequency rank, French
4
letters
6
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Bloc, généralement cubique et fait de pierre dure (basalte, granit, grès, porphyre…), spécialement taillé pour confectionner une chaussée de route, de rue, ou d’un sol quelconque.

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

pavé vs PV
0% similar
pavé vs pe
25% similar
pavé vs pré
50% similar

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

Key facts for pavé
PropertyValue
Headwordpavé
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\pa.ve\
Letters4
Frequency rank#10,549
Misspellings tracked6
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “pavé” sits in French frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). pavé lands here:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The French entry for pavé is 4 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as \pa.ve\. Corpus data places it at rank #10,549 in overall French word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 10 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our generated misspelling index lists 6 likely wrong-spelling variants for pavé, with forms such as "apvé", "pave", and "pavvé". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "PV", "pe", "pré", 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 best explained by sound-to-letter mapping rather than etymology. The correct French form is pavé, spelled P-A-V-É.

Definition

  1. 1
    Bloc, généralement cubique et fait de pierre dure (basalte, granit, grès, porphyre…), spécialement taillé pour confectionner une chaussée de route, de rue, ou d’un sol quelconque.
  2. 2
    L’ensemble des blocs de pierre qui couvrent une surface, une rue, une route ; la rue ou la chaussée elle-même.
  3. 3
    La rue.
  4. 4
    Synonyme de parallélépipède.
  5. 5
    Gros morceau de viande ou de poisson.
  6. 6
    Pâtisserie (gâteau, pain d’épice, quatre-quarts…) en forme de bloc ou de barre.
  7. 7
    Fromage de chèvre en forme de cube ou de pyramide.
  8. 8
    Texte, écrits ou livre qui est trop long, trop lourd, maladroitement rédigé ce qui rend le tout ennuyeux et difficile à lire.
  9. 9
    Livre contenant de nombreuses pages.
  10. 10
    Annonce publicitaire insérée dans une page de journal de façon à ce qu’elle soit nettement visible.

Synonyms

chausséedallagerue

This word in other languages

cobblestone(English)adoquín(Español)Pflaster(Deutsch)paralelepípedo(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: apvé,pave,pavvé,paév,ppavé,pvaé

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

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

apvé2pave1pavvé1paév2ppavé1pvaé2
Edit distance from "pavé"

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 "pavé"?
"pavé" is spelled P-A-V-É. The IPA pronunciation is \pa.ve\.
What does "pavé" mean?
As a noun, "pavé" means: Bloc, généralement cubique et fait de pierre dure (basalte, granit, grès, porphyre…), spécialement taillé pour confectionner une chaussée de route, de rue, ou d’un sol quelconque.
What words are commonly confused with "pavé"?
"pavé" is commonly confused with "PV", "pe", "pré". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "pavé"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "pavé" is \pa.ve\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "pavé" come from?
"pavé" 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.

Using “pavé”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct French spelling is P-A-V-É - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as \pa.ve\ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
  • Don't mix it up with “PV” - see the side-by-side comparison. pavé vs PV
  • Browse more French words and confusable pairs in the same reference. French words
Data Source

Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list