porter

\pɔʁ.te\

/\pɔʁ.te\/ verb

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

The verdict

“porter” is in the everyday core of French, ranked #883 in French word frequency and used as a verb.

#883
frequency rank, French
6
letters
9
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Soutenir quelque chose ou quelqu’un.

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

porter vs pote
67% similar
porter vs poste
67% similar
porter vs poser
67% similar

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

Key facts for porter
PropertyValue
Headwordporter
LanguageFrench
Part of speechVerb
IPA\pɔʁ.te\
Letters6
Frequency rank#883
Misspellings tracked9
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “porter” sits in French frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). porter lands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The French entry for porter is 6 letters long, classified as a verb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as \pɔʁ.te\. Corpus data places it at rank #883 in overall French word frequency, putting it firmly in the everyday core of the language. Wiktionary records 42 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our generated misspelling index lists 9 likely wrong-spelling variants for porter, with forms such as "oprter", "poretr", and "porrter". 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, "pote", "poste", "poser", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Wiktionary doesn't record an etymology 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 porter, spelled P-O-R-T-E-R.

Definition

  1. 1
    Soutenir quelque chose ou quelqu’un.
  2. 2
    Avoir sur soi ou tenir à la main.
  3. 3
    Mettre sur soi, en parlant de l’habillement, de la parure, etc.
  4. 4
    Tenir son corps, sa tête, ses bras, etc., et de tout ce qui regarde la contenance et le geste.
  5. 5
    Transporter.
  6. 6
    Pousser, étendre, élever, faire aller, conduire.
  7. 7
    Asséner ; donner.
  8. 8
    Être accablé d’un malheur, d’une souffrance, etc. ; supporter, souffrir, endurer.
  9. 9
    Être chargé de travail.
  10. 10
    Soutenir ; choisir ; élire.
  11. 11
    Mettre en avant quelqu’un comme candidat, dans une élection.
  12. 12
    Tenir son rang, sa dignité, son honneur, etc.
  13. 13
    Transporter, transmettre, pousser, étendre, élever.
  14. 14
    Inscrire ; enregistrer.
  15. 15
    Indiquer.
  16. 16
    Soumettre à une juridiction, à un examen, à un jugement.
  17. 17
    Induire ; exciter à quelque chose.
  18. 18
    Être en grossesse, en parlant des femmes ; être gravide en parlant des femelles des animaux.
  19. 19
    Produire, en parlant de la terre, des arbres, etc.
  20. 20
    Causer, produire, amener.
  21. 21
    Manifester, montrer, en parlant de l’esprit, du caractère.
  22. 22
    Avoir, présenter, offrir.
  23. 23
    Afficher.
  24. 24
    Déclarer, dire ou exprimer, en parlant d’actes publics, de lettres et d’autres écrits.
  25. 25
    Poser, être soutenu.
  26. 26
    Peser.
  27. 27
    Concerner, avoir pour objet.
  28. 28
    Se diriger vers.
  29. 29
    Atteindre ; en parlant des armes à feu et des armes de jet, ainsi que de leurs projectiles.
  30. 30
    Faire impression ; être décisif, atteindre son but.
  31. 31
    Parcourir une distance, en parlant du son, du regard, du vent, etc.
  32. 32
    Lancer très haut de sorte qu’elle s’immobilise rapidement après sa retombée au sol, en parlant d’une boule.
  33. 33
    Faire fonctionner un logiciel, ou une fonctionnalité d’un logiciel, dans un autre contexte que le contexte initial (par exemple, sur un autre type de machine).
  34. 34
    Aller ; se transporter.
  35. 35
    Affluer, se diriger, en parlant de diverses choses.
  36. 36
    En parlant de la disposition de l’esprit, de l’inclination, de la pente qu’on a à faire quelque chose.
  37. 37
    Se présenter comme candidat à un poste électif.
  38. 38
    Se présenter en justice.
  39. 39
    Être dans quelque état de santé.
  40. 40
    Être objet de mode, comme vêtement ou comme parure.
  41. 41
    Dans le langage des tailleurs, côté duquel un homme dispose ses organes génitaux dans le pantalon.
  42. 42
    Avoir un port, un maintien plus ou moins réussi.

This word in other languages

carry(English)portar(Español)tragen(Deutsch)carregar(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: oprter,poretr,porrter,porterr,portre,portter,potrer,pporter,proter

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of porter - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.

oprter2poretr2porrter1porterr1portre2portter1potrer2pporter1
Edit distance from "porter"

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 "porter"?
"porter" is spelled P-O-R-T-E-R. The IPA pronunciation is \pɔʁ.te\.
What does "porter" mean?
As a verb, "porter" means: Soutenir quelque chose ou quelqu’un.
What words are commonly confused with "porter"?
"porter" is commonly confused with "pote", "poste", "poser". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "porter"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "porter" is \pɔʁ.te\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "porter" come from?
"porter" 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.

Using “porter”

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

  • The one correct French spelling is P-O-R-T-E-R - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as \pɔʁ.te\ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
  • Don't mix it up with “pote” - see the side-by-side comparison. porter vs pote
  • 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