pénétration
\pe.ne.tʁa.sjɔ̃\
The verdict
“pénétration” is a moderately-common French word, ranked #10,564 in French word frequency and used as a noun.
- #10,564
- frequency rank, French
- 11
- letters
- 17
- tracked misspellings
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Action de pénétrer dans quelque chose.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | pénétration |
| Language | French |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | \pe.ne.tʁa.sjɔ̃\ |
| Letters | 11 |
| Frequency rank | #10,564 |
| Misspellings tracked | 17 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “pénétration” sits in French frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The French entry for pénétration is 11 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as \pe.ne.tʁa.sjɔ̃\. Corpus data places it at rank #10,564 in overall French word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 5 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 17 likely wrong-spelling variants for pénétration, with forms such as "penetration", "pnéétration", and "ppénétration". 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. No confusable counterpart is on file for this word, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.
Our source data has no etymology on file for this entry, so its spelling is easiest to reason about phoneme by phoneme, absent a documented history. The correct French form is pénétration, spelled P-É-N-É-T-R-A-T-I-O-N.
Definition
- 1Action de pénétrer dans quelque chose.
- 2Action de pénétrer, de s’introduire dans un lieu.
- 3Introduction du pénis, voire d'un autre organe, dans le vagin, dans l’anus ou parfois dans la bouche.
- 4Sagacité de l’esprit ; facilité à pénétrer dans la connaissance des choses.
- 5Entrée d’humains à pied ou d’engins sur une parcelle, dans un peuplement.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: penetration,pnéétration,ppénétration,pénnétration,péntération,pénértation,pénétartion,pénétraiton,pénétratino,pénétrationn,pénétratoin,pénétrattion,pénétrration,pénétrtaion,pénéttration,pééntration,épnétration
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of pénétration - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
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 "pénétration"?
What does "pénétration" mean?
What are common misspellings of "pénétration"?
How do you pronounce "pénétration"?
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Using “pénétration”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct French spelling is P-É-N-É-T-R-A-T-I-O-N - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as \pe.ne.tʁa.sjɔ̃\ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- 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.