petite vieille
\pə.tit vjɛj\
The verdict
“petite vieille” is uncommon French (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency French
- 14
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Femme âgée de petite taille.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | petite vieille |
| Language | French |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | \pə.tit vjɛj\ |
| Letters | 14 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “petite vieille” sits in French frequency
Rare enough to double-check
petite vieille is uncommon French outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed \pə.tit vjɛj\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.
Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for petite vieille, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.
No documented word history exists for this headword, so spelling patterns must be inferred from the word's phoneme-to-grapheme mapping rather than from a documented borrowing chain. The correct French form is petite vieille, spelled P-E-T-I-T-E- -V-I-E-I-L-L-E.
Definition
- 1Femme âgée de petite taille.
- 2Centrolabre de roche.
- 3Crénilabre mélops.
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Using “petite vieille”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct French spelling is P-E-T-I-T-E- -V-I-E-I-L-L-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as \pə.tit vjɛj\ (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.