prendre de court

\pʁɑ̃.dʁə də kuʁ\

/\pʁɑ̃.dʁə də kuʁ\/ verb

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

The verdict

“prendre de court” is outside the top-ranked French vocabulary, used as a verb - the kind of word writers most often double-check.

Unranked
below top-frequency French
16
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Prendre par surprise, sans laisser le temps de réagir.

Key facts for prendre de court
PropertyValue
Headwordprendre de court
LanguageFrench
Part of speechVerb
IPA\pʁɑ̃.dʁə də kuʁ\
Letters16
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “prendre de court” sits in French frequency

prendre de court 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 prendre de court is 16 letters long, classified as a verb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as \pʁɑ̃.dʁə də kuʁ\. 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: "Prendre par surprise, sans laisser le temps de réagir.".

No misspelling variants are generated for prendre de court in our index, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. No confusable counterpart is on file for this word, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.

No borrowing history is documented for this entry, so its spelling is easiest explained by how it's pronounced rather than where it came from. The correct French form is prendre de court, spelled P-R-E-N-D-R-E- -D-E- -C-O-U-R-T.

Definition

  1. 1
    Prendre par surprise, sans laisser le temps de réagir.

This word in other languages

catch napping(English)überrumpeln(Deutsch)

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 "prendre de court"?
"prendre de court" is spelled P-R-E-N-D-R-E- -D-E- -C-O-U-R-T. The IPA pronunciation is \pʁɑ̃.dʁə də kuʁ\.
What does "prendre de court" mean?
As a verb, "prendre de court" means: Prendre par surprise, sans laisser le temps de réagir.
How do you pronounce "prendre de court"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "prendre de court" is \pʁɑ̃.dʁə də kuʁ\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "prendre de court" come from?
"prendre de court" 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 “prendre de court”

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

  • The one correct French spelling is P-R-E-N-D-R-E- -D-E- -C-O-U-R-T - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as \pʁɑ̃.dʁə də kuʁ\ (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