raton laveur

\ʁa.tɔ̃ la.vœʁ\

/\ʁa.tɔ̃ la.vœʁ\/ noun

The verdict

“raton laveur” is outside the top-ranked French vocabulary, used as a noun - the kind of word writers most often double-check.

Unranked
below top-frequency French
12
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Mammifère originaire d’Amérique du Nord qui a une fourrure poivre et sel, des yeux entourés d’un masque noir bordé de blanc et une queue rayée de blanc et de noir. Son nom taxinomique est Procyon l...

Key facts for raton laveur
PropertyValue
Headwordraton laveur
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\ʁa.tɔ̃ la.vœʁ\
Letters12
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “raton laveur” sits in French frequency

raton laveur 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 raton laveur is 12 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as \ʁa.tɔ̃ la.vœʁ\. 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: "Mammifère originaire d’Amérique du Nord qui a une fourrure poivre et sel, des yeux entourés d’un masque noir bordé de blanc et une queue rayée de blanc et de noir. Son nom taxinomique est Procyon l...".

No misspelling variants are generated for raton laveur in our index, a sign its spelling follows regular French conventions. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.

This headword's origin isn't recorded in our source data, so its spelling is easiest explained by how it's pronounced rather than where it came from. The correct French form is raton laveur, spelled R-A-T-O-N- -L-A-V-E-U-R.

Definition

  1. 1
    Mammifère originaire d’Amérique du Nord qui a une fourrure poivre et sel, des yeux entourés d’un masque noir bordé de blanc et une queue rayée de blanc et de noir. Son nom taxinomique est Procyon lotor.

Synonyms

This word in other languages

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 "raton laveur"?
"raton laveur" is spelled R-A-T-O-N- -L-A-V-E-U-R. The IPA pronunciation is \ʁa.tɔ̃ la.vœʁ\.
What does "raton laveur" mean?
As a noun, "raton laveur" means: Mammifère originaire d’Amérique du Nord qui a une fourrure poivre et sel, des yeux entourés d’un masque noir bordé de blanc et une queue rayée de blanc et de noir. Son nom taxinomique est Procyon l...
How do you pronounce "raton laveur"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "raton laveur" is \ʁa.tɔ̃ la.vœʁ\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "raton laveur" come from?
"raton laveur" 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 “raton laveur”

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

  • The one correct French spelling is R-A-T-O-N- -L-A-V-E-U-R - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as \ʁa.tɔ̃ la.vœʁ\ (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