pédale

\pe.dal\

/\pe.dal\/ noun

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

The verdict

“pédale” has 9 generated spelling variants in the French index at frequency #14,124. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#14,124
frequency rank, French
6,826
“P” headwords
9
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Touche d'un instrument de musique que l'on actionne avec le pied.

Corpus desk

Index FR-pedale · pédale · French

pédale · rank #14,124 · 9 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #14,124
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 9 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 6,826
  • PHOTO-FINISH puzzle

Nearest frequency peer: puzzle (-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.

Frequency neighbourhood for “pédale”

Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)

corpus weight

What this shows Bars show where “pédale” sits against the nearest ranked French headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.

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).

pédale vs pénal
67% similar
pédale vs perle
50% similar
pédale vs pelle
50% similar

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

Key facts for pédale
PropertyValue
Headwordpédale
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\pe.dal\
Letters6
Frequency rank#14,124
Misspellings tracked9
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Où “pédale” se place dans la fréquence du français

De gauche à droite: le peu qui porte la parole quotidienne, puis la longue queue quasi invisible.pédalese 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 « puzzle » (#14,123), « périple » (#14,125), « Pt » (#14,122). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 9 spelling variants around pédale (IPA \pe.dal\), anoun. Corpus frequency is #14,124 among 6,826 “P” headwords. Wiktionary lists 13 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 9 likely wrong-spelling variants for pédale, with forms such as "pdéale", "pedale", and "ppédale". 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, "pénal", "perle", "pelle", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

No documented word history exists for this headword, so its spelling is best read as a straightforward mapping from sound to letter. The correct French form is pédale, spelled P-É-D-A-L-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Touche d'un instrument de musique que l'on actionne avec le pied.
  2. 2
    Touche d'un instrument de musique que l'on actionne avec le pied.
  3. 3
    Touche d'un instrument de musique que l'on actionne avec le pied.
  4. 4
    Touche d'un instrument de musique que l'on actionne avec le pied.
  5. 5
    Touche d'un instrument de musique que l'on actionne avec le pied.
  6. 6
    Touche d'un instrument de musique que l'on actionne avec le pied.
  7. 7
    Morceau de bois plat, que l’on fait mouvoir avec le pied pour communiquer la rotation à une meule, à un tour.
  8. 8
    Pièce actionnée avec le pied permettant de commander un système.
  9. 9
    Pièce actionnée avec le pied permettant de commander un système.
  10. 10
    Chacun des deux organes grâce auxquels la pression alternative des deux pieds fait mouvoir une bicyclette ou un autre engin tirant sa force motrice de l'énergie transférées par le biais des pédales.
  11. 11
    Chacun des deux organes grâce auxquels la pression alternative des deux pieds fait mouvoir une bicyclette ou un autre engin tirant sa force motrice de l'énergie transférées par le biais des pédales.
  12. 12
    Chacun des deux organes grâce auxquels la pression alternative des deux pieds fait mouvoir une bicyclette ou un autre engin tirant sa force motrice de l'énergie transférées par le biais des pédales.
  13. 13
    Contacteur fixé le long de la voie ferrée, destiné à être actionné par le passage d’un train.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. La prise de son d'une grosse caisse se fait habituellement par l'avant mais le son de l'attaque de la pédale doit être fortement souligné dans l’égalisation surtout dans les musiques dance.
  2. Doux souvenirs ! Nos mains se rencontraient sur les touches d’ivoire, nos pieds sur la pédale d’étouffement, et vous poussiez des petits cris aigus… Blanche.– C’étaient vos bottes, mon ami.

Synonyms

champignon

This word in other languages

pedal(English)pedal(Español)Pedal(Deutsch)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • pdéale
  • pedale
  • ppédale
  • péadle
  • pédael
  • pédalle
  • péddale
  • pédlae
  • épdale

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of pédale - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.

pdéale2pedale1ppédale1péadle2pédael2pédalle1péddale1pédlae2
Edit distance from "pédale"

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 "pédale"?
"pédale" is spelled P-É-D-A-L-E. The IPA pronunciation is \pe.dal\.
What does "pédale" mean?
As a noun, "pédale" means: Touche d'un instrument de musique que l'on actionne avec le pied.
What words are commonly confused with "pédale"?
"pédale" is commonly confused with "pénal", "perle", "pelle". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "pédale"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "pédale" is \pe.dal\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "pédale" come from?
"pédale" 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 "pédale", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

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

puzzle#14,123Platon#14,115plaies#14,114pendre#14,110

Similar misspelling depth

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

raciale9 variantsprojette9 variantssourds9 variantsmalins9 variants

What to do next

You've looked up "pédale". Here's where to go from here.

  • "pédale" maps to 20 confusable pairs in this vintage; the highest-scored is "pénal". View pair
  • 9 edit-distance misspelling variants are generated for spell-check research on this headword. See variants
  • Usage frequency rank #14,124 among French headwords in this corpus. Corpus statistics
  • Browse more French words in the "P" letter cohort. P–Z browse

PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.

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