recul
\ʁə.kyl\
The verdict
“recul” is a regularly-used French word, ranked #4,368 in French word frequency and used as a noun.
- #4,368
- frequency rank, French
- 5
- letters
- 7
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Action de reculer.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | recul |
| Language | French |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | \ʁə.kyl\ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #4,368 |
| Misspellings tracked | 7 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “recul” sits in French frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The French entry for recul is 5 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as \ʁə.kyl\. Corpus data places it at rank #4,368 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 recul, with forms such as "ercul", "rceul", and "reccul". 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 20 confusable-pair relationships, "REL", "revu", "relu", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
This entry carries no recorded etymology, so its spelling pattern is best understood through pronunciation rather than a traceable origin. The correct French form is recul, spelled R-E-C-U-L.
Definition
- 1Action de reculer.
- 2Action des troupes qui se retirent d’une zone de combat.
- 3Mouvement vers l’arrière du canon d’une arme à feu quand on tire.
- 4Retour en arrière, régression.
- 5Distance suffisante dans l’espace permettant d’appréhender visuellement un objet dans son ensemble ou l’effet d’une combinaison d’éléments.
- 6Éloignement dans le temps, permettant notamment de gagner en détachement et en perspective.
- 7Action de repousser à plus tard un événement ou la manifestation d’une chose.
- 8Désavantage donné à certains chevaux participants à une course de trot à conditions, que l’on fait partir en retrait des autres.
Antonyms
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: ercul,rceul,reccul,reclu,recull,reucl,rrecul
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of recul - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.
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 "recul"?
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Using “recul”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct French spelling is R-E-C-U-L - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as \ʁə.kyl\ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “REL” - see the side-by-side comparison. recul vs REL
- 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.