ponton

\pɔ̃.tɔ̃\

/\pɔ̃.tɔ̃\/ noun

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

The verdict

“ponton” has 9 generated spelling variants in the French index at frequency #32,530. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#32,530
frequency rank, French
6,826
“P” headwords
9
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Pont flottant, ensemble composé de deux ou de plusieurs bateaux joints par des poutres et couverts de madriers, dont on se sert pour faire passer une rivière, un fleuve à des troupes.

Corpus desk

Index FR-ponton · ponton · French

ponton · rank #32,530 · 9 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #32,530
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 9 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 6,826
  • PHOTO-FINISH Pompéi

Nearest frequency peer: Pompéi (-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.

Pairs de rang près de l'aimant d'erreurs « ponton »

Même bande de rareté: utile si une faute tombe sur un lemme voisin

corpus weight

What this shows « ponton » siège parmi ces pairs FrequencyWords; la profondeur des fautes est suivie à part dans le graphique d'édition.

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).

ponton vs poto
67% similar
ponton vs ponts
67% similar
ponton vs porto
67% similar

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

Key facts for ponton
PropertyValue
Headwordponton
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\pɔ̃.tɔ̃\
Letters6
Frequency rank#32,530
Misspellings tracked9
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Fréquence de l'aimant d'erreurs « ponton »

La fréquence va de la poignée de mots du quotidien (gauche) à la longue queue presque jamais vue (droite).pontonse 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 « Pompéi » (#32,529), « Portal » (#32,531), « pointée » (#32,528). Parmi 6,826 lemmes en « P », « ponton » est au #32,530. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 9 spelling variants around ponton (IPA \pɔ̃.tɔ̃\), anoun. Corpus frequency is #32,530 among 6,826 “P” headwords. Wiktionary lists 4 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 9 likely wrong-spelling variants for ponton, with forms such as "opnton", "pnoton", and "ponnton". 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. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "poto", "ponts", "porto", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

No documented word history exists for this headword, leaving phoneme-to-grapheme mapping as the best guide to its spelling rather than a borrowing history. The correct French form is ponton, spelled P-O-N-T-O-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    Pont flottant, ensemble composé de deux ou de plusieurs bateaux joints par des poutres et couverts de madriers, dont on se sert pour faire passer une rivière, un fleuve à des troupes.
  2. 2
    Grand bateau plat et ponté, employé pour divers usages dans les ports.
  3. 3
    Cale flottante qui sert de station pour les bateaux qui transportent des voyageurs.
  4. 4
    Vaisseaux démâtés, où l’on enfermait des prisonniers.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. […], et un bateau à vapeur du service municipal de la Tamise heurta si violemment le ponton de Westminster qu’il n’échappa au naufrage qu’en allant s’enliser sur la rive opposée, dans la vase découverte par la marée basse.
  2. Cette étonnante coopérative ouvrière d'une soixantaine d'hommes-grenouilles, créée en 1952 par des « mordus » de la spéléologie a son quartier général sur un vieux ponton, ancré au pied des piles du pont de Bercy.

This word in other languages

pontoon(English)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • opnton
  • pnoton
  • ponnton
  • ponotn
  • pontno
  • pontonn
  • pontton
  • potnon
  • pponton

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of ponton - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.

opnton2pnoton2ponnton1ponotn2pontno2pontonn1pontton1potnon2
Edit distance from "ponton"

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 "ponton"?
"ponton" is spelled P-O-N-T-O-N. The IPA pronunciation is \pɔ̃.tɔ̃\.
What does "ponton" mean?
As a noun, "ponton" means: Pont flottant, ensemble composé de deux ou de plusieurs bateaux joints par des poutres et couverts de madriers, dont on se sert pour faire passer une rivière, un fleuve à des troupes.
What words are commonly confused with "ponton"?
"ponton" is commonly confused with "poto", "ponts", "porto". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "ponton"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "ponton" is \pɔ̃.tɔ̃\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "ponton" come from?
"ponton" 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.

Similar French words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "ponton", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked French headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Pompéi#32,529Portal#32,531pendue#32,520Quincy#32,544

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (9 here; floor ≥5).

raclée9 variantsrelaté9 variantsNewark9 variantsMarwan9 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list