puits

\pɥi\

/\pɥi\/ noun

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

The verdict

“puits” is a regularly-used French word, ranked #5,282 in French word frequency and used as a noun.

#5,282
frequency rank, French
5
letters
7
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Trou qui s’enfonce dans le sol pour tirer de l’eau, du pétrole, du gaz naturel, ou tout autre fluide qui se trouve en profondeur.

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

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

puits vs pus
60% similar
puits vs pût
40% similar
puits vs pute
60% similar

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

Key facts for puits
PropertyValue
Headwordpuits
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\pɥi\
Letters5
Frequency rank#5,282
Misspellings tracked7
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “puits” 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). puits 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 puits is 5 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as \pɥi\. Corpus data places it at rank #5,282 in overall French word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 8 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our generated misspelling index lists 7 likely wrong-spelling variants for puits, with forms such as "piuts", "ppuits", and "puist". 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, "pus", "pût", "pute", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

This entry's etymology isn't recorded, so its spelling is best read as a straightforward mapping from sound to letter. The correct French form is puits, spelled P-U-I-T-S.

Definition

  1. 1
    Trou qui s’enfonce dans le sol pour tirer de l’eau, du pétrole, du gaz naturel, ou tout autre fluide qui se trouve en profondeur.
  2. 2
    Tunnel vertical pour l’extraction de substances ou matériaux qui sont enfouies dans la terre.
  3. 3
    Passage vertical dans une grotte.
  4. 4
    Endroit caché, secret.
  5. 5
    Creux qui retient un liquide.
  6. 6
    Stand dans une course automobile.
  7. 7
    Meuble représentant l’ouvrage du même nom dans les armoiries. Il est généralement représenté comme un puits à eau (un ouvrage en pierre circulaire émergeant du sol) surmonté ou non d’un système à corde ou chaîne permettant de puiser l’eau.
  8. 8
    Dans un graphe orienté, sommet dont le degré sortant est nul.

Synonyms

bure

This word in other languages

well(English)pozo(Español)Brunnen(Deutsch)cisterna(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: piuts,ppuits,puist,puitss,puitts,putis,upits

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of puits - 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.

piuts2ppuits1puist2puitss1puitts1putis2upits2
Edit distance from "puits"

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 "puits"?
"puits" is spelled P-U-I-T-S. The IPA pronunciation is \pɥi\.
What does "puits" mean?
As a noun, "puits" means: Trou qui s’enfonce dans le sol pour tirer de l’eau, du pétrole, du gaz naturel, ou tout autre fluide qui se trouve en profondeur.
What words are commonly confused with "puits"?
"puits" is commonly confused with "pus", "pût", "pute". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "puits"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "puits" is \pɥi\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "puits" come from?
"puits" is a French word. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for this and other words across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German on PlainSpell.
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 “puits”

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

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