recul

\ʁə.kyl\

/\ʁə.kyl\/ noun

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

The verdict

“recul” has 7 generated spelling variants in the French index at frequency #4,368. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#4,368
frequency rank, French
5,742
“R” headwords
7
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Action de reculer.

Corpus desk

Index FR-recul · recul · French

recul · rank #4,368 · 7 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #4,368
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 7 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 5,742
  • PHOTO-FINISH publications

Nearest frequency peer: publications (-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 « recul »

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

corpus weight

What this shows « recul » 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).

recul vs REL
0% similar
recul vs revu
60% similar
recul vs relu
60% similar

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

Key facts for recul
PropertyValue
Headwordrecul
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\ʁə.kyl\
Letters5
Frequency rank#4,368
Misspellings tracked7
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Fréquence de l'aimant d'erreurs « recul »

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

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

Les tics avancent en logarithme; chacun est de l'ordre de dix fois plus rare. Dans la même bande de rareté figurent « publications » (#4,367), « regardant » (#4,369), « provoquer » (#4,366). Parmi 5,742 lemmes en « R », « recul » est au #4,368. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 7 spelling variants around recul (IPA \ʁə.kyl\), anoun. Corpus frequency is #4,368 among 5,742 “R” headwords. Wiktionary lists 8 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

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

  1. 1
    Action de reculer.
  2. 2
    Action des troupes qui se retirent d’une zone de combat.
  3. 3
    Mouvement vers l’arrière du canon d’une arme à feu quand on tire.
  4. 4
    Retour en arrière, régression.
  5. 5
    Distance suffisante dans l’espace permettant d’appréhender visuellement un objet dans son ensemble ou l’effet d’une combinaison d’éléments.
  6. 6
    Éloignement dans le temps, permettant notamment de gagner en détachement et en perspective.
  7. 7
    Action de repousser à plus tard un événement ou la manifestation d’une chose.
  8. 8
    Désavantage donné à certains chevaux participants à une course de trot à conditions, que l’on fait partir en retrait des autres.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. En l’apercevant j’ai eu un mouvement de recul.
  2. Arrive le dernier réchauffement, coïncidant avec le recul, la fonte des glaciers. Il a peu à peu conduit à un climat plus chaud et plus sec que le climat actuel : le climat xérothermique.

Synonyms

replirégressionperspectivehaussereport

Antonyms

avancéeprogression

This word in other languages

retreat(English)retroceso(Español)Rückfall(Deutsch)

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.

ercul2rceul2reccul1reclu2recull1reucl2rrecul1
Edit distance from "recul"

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"?
"recul" is spelled R-E-C-U-L. The IPA pronunciation is \ʁə.kyl\.
What does "recul" mean?
As a noun, "recul" means: Action de reculer.
What words are commonly confused with "recul"?
"recul" is commonly confused with "REL", "revu", "relu". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "recul"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "recul" is \ʁə.kyl\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "recul" come from?
"recul" 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.

Similar French words by spelling shape

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

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked French headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

remet#4,370Scott#4,376Nancy#4,355mince#4,353

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (7 here; floor ≥5).

sœurs7 variantsmenée7 variantsLaval7 variantsjoint7 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list