pH

\pe.aʃ\

/\pe.aʃ\/ noun

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

The verdict

“pH” sits in 20 confusable pairs (corpus #10,377) as a noun. The look-alike neighbours are the real trap.

#10,377
frequency rank, French
6,826
“P” headwords
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Opposé du logarithme décimal de la concentration en ions hydroniums d’une solution aqueuse. Échelle de mesure de l’acidité d’une solution. ( pH = -log₁₀ [H⁺])

Corpus desk

Index FR-ph · pH · French

pH · rank #10,377 · 0 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #10,377
  • LEN-SHORT 2 letters
  • VOW-0 0 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 6,826
  • PHOTO-FINISH pesticides

Nearest frequency peer: pesticides (-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 “pH”

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

corpus weight

What this shows Bars show where “pH” 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).

pH vs pu
50% similar
pH vs PS
0% similar
pH vs PQ
0% similar

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

Key facts for pH
PropertyValue
HeadwordpH
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\pe.aʃ\
Letters2
Frequency rank#10,377
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Où “pH” se place dans la fréquence du français

De gauche à droite: le peu qui porte la parole quotidienne, puis la longue queue quasi invisible.pHse 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 « pesticides » (#10,376), « pilier » (#10,378), « pencher » (#10,375). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Easy to mix with look-alikes

The spelling risk for pH is neighbouring look-alikes ("pu", "PS", …), not just typos; it is anoun pronounced \pe.aʃ\. Frequency #10,377 among 6,826 “P” headwords. Gloss: "Opposé du logarithme décimal de la concentration en ions hydroniums d’une solution aqueuse. Échelle de mesure de l’acidité d’une solution. ( pH = -log₁₀ [H⁺])".

pH doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "pu", "PS", "PQ", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

No documented word history exists for this headword, so its spelling is best explained by sound-to-letter mapping rather than etymology. The correct French form is pH, spelled P-H.

Definition

  1. 1
    Opposé du logarithme décimal de la concentration en ions hydroniums d’une solution aqueuse. Échelle de mesure de l’acidité d’une solution. ( pH = -log₁₀ [H⁺])

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. La nature du sol a de l’importance pour beaucoup de plantes. […], de là est née la notion un peu vague de plantes calcicoles et calcifuges. Cette notion a été précisée par la mesure de la réaction chimique du sol représentée par le symbole pH (potentiel en ions Hydrogène).
  2. Le point isoélectrique est la valeur du pH pour laquelle le transport d’un protéide dans un champ électrique est nul, c’est-à-dire le pH pour lequel le protéide est électriquement neutre.

Synonyms

aciditépotentiel hydrogènepouvoir hydrogène

This word in other languages

pH(English)

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 "pH"?
"pH" is spelled P-H. The IPA pronunciation is \pe.aʃ\.
What does "pH" mean?
As a noun, "pH" means: Opposé du logarithme décimal de la concentration en ions hydroniums d’une solution aqueuse. Échelle de mesure de l’acidité d’une solution. ( pH = -log₁₀ [H⁺])
What words are commonly confused with "pH"?
"pH" is commonly confused with "pu", "PS", "PQ". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "pH"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "pH" is \pe.aʃ\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "pH" come from?
"pH" is a French word. PlainSpell covers definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German.
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.

What to do next

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

  • "pH" maps to 20 confusable pairs in this vintage; the highest-scored is "pu". View pair
  • Usage frequency rank #10,377 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