plat principal

\pla pʁɛ̃.si.pal\

/\pla pʁɛ̃.si.pal\/ noun

The verdict

“plat principal” 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
14
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Plat constituant le cœur d’un repas, souvent le plus copieux.

Key facts for plat principal
PropertyValue
Headwordplat principal
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\pla pʁɛ̃.si.pal\
Letters14
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “plat principal” sits in French frequency

plat principal falls outside the top-100,000 ranked French words, the long-tail zone of technical, archaic, or low-frequency vocabulary, exactly where readers second-guess spellings most.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The French entry for plat principal is 14 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as \pla pʁɛ̃.si.pal\. 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: "Plat constituant le cœur d’un repas, souvent le plus copieux.".

We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for plat principal, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. Our dataset records no confusable match here, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.

No explicit etymology string is stored for this entry, 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 plat principal, spelled P-L-A-T- -P-R-I-N-C-I-P-A-L.

Definition

  1. 1
    Plat constituant le cœur d’un repas, souvent le plus copieux.

Synonyms

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

How do you spell "plat principal"?
"plat principal" is spelled P-L-A-T- -P-R-I-N-C-I-P-A-L. The IPA pronunciation is \pla pʁɛ̃.si.pal\.
What does "plat principal" mean?
As a noun, "plat principal" means: Plat constituant le cœur d’un repas, souvent le plus copieux.
How do you pronounce "plat principal"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "plat principal" is \pla pʁɛ̃.si.pal\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "plat principal" come from?
"plat principal" 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.

Using “plat principal”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct French spelling is P-L-A-T- -P-R-I-N-C-I-P-A-L - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as \pla pʁɛ̃.si.pal\ (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.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list