prima facie

\ˈpraɪ.mə ˈfeɪ.ʃi.ˌi\

/\ˈpraɪ.mə ˈfeɪ.ʃi.ˌi\/ adv

The verdict

“prima facie” is uncommon French (outside the top frequency list), classed as an adverb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency French
11
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - À première vue.

Corpus desk

Index FR-prima-facie · prima facie · French

prima facie · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-MEGA 11 letters
  • VOW-5 5 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "P" thin
  • PHOTO-UNK Peer pending

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.

Key facts for prima facie
PropertyValue
Headwordprima facie
LanguageFrench
Part of speechAdverb
IPA\ˈpraɪ.mə ˈfeɪ.ʃi.ˌi\
Letters11
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Longue queue: rang de « prima facie » en français

prima faciereste hors des 100.000 mots français les plus fréquents, dans la longue queue du vocabulaire technique, archaïque ou rare, là où le doute d'orthographe frappe.

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

Rare enough to double-check

prima facie is uncommon French outside the top frequency list, classed as anadverb, transcribed \ˈpraɪ.mə ˈfeɪ.ʃi.ˌi\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "À première vue.".

Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for prima facie, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.

Wiktionary doesn't record an etymology 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 prima facie, spelled P-R-I-M-A- -F-A-C-I-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    À première vue.

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 "prima facie"?
"prima facie" is spelled P-R-I-M-A- -F-A-C-I-E. The IPA pronunciation is \ˈpraɪ.mə ˈfeɪ.ʃi.ˌi\.
What does "prima facie" mean?
As an adverb, "prima facie" means: À première vue.
How do you pronounce "prima facie"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "prima facie" is \ˈpraɪ.mə ˈfeɪ.ʃi.ˌi\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "prima facie" come from?
"prima facie" 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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list