providence

\pʁɔ.vi.dɑ̃s\

/\pʁɔ.vi.dɑ̃s\/ noun

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

The verdict

“providence” has 15 generated spelling variants in the French index at frequency #11,462. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#11,462
frequency rank, French
6,826
“P” headwords
15
tracked misspellings
3
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Sagesse qui prévoit et qui pourvoit.

Corpus desk

Index FR-providence · providence · French

providence · rank #11,462 · 15 variants · 3 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #11,462
  • LEN-MEGA 10 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-LOW 3 pairs
  • VAR-HIGH 15 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 6,826
  • PHOTO-FINISH procure

Nearest frequency peer: procure (-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 « providence »

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

corpus weight

What this shows « providence » 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).

providence vs province
80% similar
providence vs Provence
70% similar
providence vs présidence
80% similar

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

Key facts for providence
PropertyValue
Headwordprovidence
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\pʁɔ.vi.dɑ̃s\
Letters10
Frequency rank#11,462
Misspellings tracked15
Confusable pairs3
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Fréquence de l'aimant d'erreurs « providence »

Cette échelle va du noyau du français courant (gauche) jusqu'à la traîne des formes rares (droite).providencese place ici:

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

L'échelle est logarithmique (chaque tic ≈ 10× plus rare). Dans la même bande de rareté figurent « procure » (#11,461), « préparée » (#11,463), « posés » (#11,460). Parmi 6,826 lemmes en « P », « providence » est au #11,462. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 15 spelling variants around providence (IPA \pʁɔ.vi.dɑ̃s\), anoun. Corpus frequency is #11,462 among 6,826 “P” headwords. Wiktionary lists 6 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 15 likely wrong-spelling variants for providence, with forms such as "porvidence", "pprovidence", and "proivdence". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 3 confusable-pair relationships, "province", "Provence", "présidence", since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

Wiktionary doesn't record an etymology for this headword, so its spelling is easiest explained by how it's pronounced rather than where it came from. The correct French form is providence, spelled P-R-O-V-I-D-E-N-C-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Sagesse qui prévoit et qui pourvoit.
  2. 2
    Suprême sagesse par laquelle Dieu (ou une autre puissance supérieure) conduit toutes choses.
  3. 3
    Dieu lui-même considéré dans sa providence.
  4. 4
    Chance, bonheur.
  5. 5
    Celui ou celle qui contribue beaucoup à la fortune ou au bonheur d'autrui ou qui songe pour lui à tout ce qui peut lui être utile ou agréable.
  6. 6
    Établissement congrégationniste destiné à l’hébergement, l’éducation religieuse et la formation à un métier des enfants de familles pauvres, dans le Rhône et la Loire à partir du XVIIIᵉ siècle.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. La providence du prince doit s’étendre sur tous ses sujets.
  2. Le mot providence dérive du latin providentia, qui signifie « prévoyance », un néologisme créé par Cicéron qui provient de pro, « en avant », et videre, « voir ». La providence est ce qui voit d'avance; c'est Dieu pour les chrétiens par exemple. La plupart des courants spirituels ou religieux la décrivent comme une action d'une volonté extérieure, transce…

Antonyms

improvidence

This word in other languages

providence(English)providencia(Español)Vorsehung(Deutsch)providência(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • porvidence
  • pprovidence
  • proivdence
  • provdience
  • providdence
  • providecne
  • providencce
  • providenec
  • providennce
  • providnece
  • proviednce
  • provvidence
  • prrovidence
  • prvoidence
  • rpovidence

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of providence - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.

porvidence2pprovidence1proivdence2provdience2providdence1providecne2providencce1providenec2
Edit distance from "providence"

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 "providence"?
"providence" is spelled P-R-O-V-I-D-E-N-C-E. The IPA pronunciation is \pʁɔ.vi.dɑ̃s\.
What does "providence" mean?
As a noun, "providence" means: Sagesse qui prévoit et qui pourvoit.
What words are commonly confused with "providence"?
"providence" is commonly confused with "province", "Provence", "présidence". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "providence"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "providence" is \pʁɔ.vi.dɑ̃s\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "providence" come from?
"providence" 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.

Similar French words by spelling shape

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

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked French headwords with 10 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

prévisible#11,464réunissant#11,482semblaient#11,483mentionnés#11,437

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (15 here; floor ≥5).

générateur15 variantséléphants15 variantsétudiantes15 variantsagriculteur15 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list