pound

\ˈpaʊnd\

/\ˈpaʊnd\/ noun

The verdict

“pound” is uncommon French (frequency #55,518 among 248,534 “P” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#55,518
frequency rank, French
248,534
“P” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Livre, unité de mesure de masse (système impérial britannique). Symbole : lb. Appelé aussi avoirdupois pound.

Key facts for pound
PropertyValue
Headwordpound
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\ˈpaʊnd\
Letters5
Frequency rank#55,518
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “pound” 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). pound lands here:

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

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

Rare enough to double-check

pound is uncommon French at frequency #55,518 among 248,534 “P” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed \ˈpaʊnd\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.

We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for pound, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.

No explicit etymology string is stored for this entry, leaving phoneme-to-grapheme mapping as the best guide to its spelling rather than a borrowing history. The correct French form is pound, spelled P-O-U-N-D.

Definition

  1. 1
    Livre, unité de mesure de masse (système impérial britannique). Symbole : lb. Appelé aussi avoirdupois pound.
  2. 2
    Unité de mesure de masse (système impérial britannique). Aujourd'hui, elle n'est plus utilisée que pour mesurer les métaux précieux. Symbole : lb t. Appelé aussi troy pound ou apothecary pound.
  3. 3
    Livre, unité monétaire britannique, appelé aussi pound sterling ; ancienne unité monétaire d’Irlande ou de Chypre (actuellement passées à l’euro), ainsi que d’autres pays (à voir).

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 "pound"?
"pound" is spelled P-O-U-N-D. The IPA pronunciation is \ˈpaʊnd\.
What does "pound" mean?
As a noun, "pound" means: Livre, unité de mesure de masse (système impérial britannique). Symbole : lb. Appelé aussi avoirdupois pound.
How do you pronounce "pound"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "pound" is \ˈpaʊnd\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "pound" come from?
"pound" 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 “pound”

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

  • The one correct French spelling is P-O-U-N-D - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as \ˈpaʊnd\ (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

Other uncommon French words near this rank

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