pétition de principe
\pe.ti.sjɔ̃ də pʁɛ̃.sip\
The verdict
“pétition de principe” is outside the top-ranked French vocabulary, used as a noun - the kind of word writers most often double-check.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency French
- 20
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Raisonnement fallacieux dans lequel on suppose vrai ce qu’il s’agit de démontrer.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | pétition de principe |
| Language | French |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | \pe.ti.sjɔ̃ də pʁɛ̃.sip\ |
| Letters | 20 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “pétition de principe” sits in French frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The French entry for pétition de principe is 20 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as \pe.ti.sjɔ̃ də pʁɛ̃.sip\. It sits outside the most-frequent rank tiers, which is often why uncommon words generate more spelling variants per reader. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "Raisonnement fallacieux dans lequel on suppose vrai ce qu’il s’agit de démontrer.".
pétition de principe doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.
No documented word history exists for this headword, so its spelling pattern is best understood through pronunciation rather than a traceable origin. The correct French form is pétition de principe, spelled P-É-T-I-T-I-O-N- -D-E- -P-R-I-N-C-I-P-E.
Definition
- 1Raisonnement fallacieux dans lequel on suppose vrai ce qu’il s’agit de démontrer.
This word in other languages
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 “pétition de principe”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct French spelling is P-É-T-I-T-I-O-N- -D-E- -P-R-I-N-C-I-P-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as \pe.ti.sjɔ̃ də pʁɛ̃.sip\ (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.