reference
\ˈɹɛf.ə.ɹəns\
The verdict
“reference” has 13 generated spelling variants in the French index at frequency #23,003. The variants make it a useful spelling check.
- #23,003
- frequency rank, French
- 5,742
- “R” headwords
- 13
- tracked misspellings
- 3
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Référence, citation, témoignage.
Corpus desk
Index FR-reference · reference · French
reference · rank #23,003 · 13 variants · 3 confusables
- FREQ-MID #23,003
- LEN-LONG 9 letters
- VOW-4 4 vowels
- CONFUS-LOW 3 pairs
- VAR-HIGH 13 variants
- BOOK-DENSE 5,742
- PHOTO-FINISH redoutables
Nearest frequency peer: redoutables (-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 « reference »
Même bande de rareté: utile si une faute tombe sur un lemme voisin
- recevable
recevable
77,001 corpus weight
- recommandent
recommandent
77,000 corpus weight
- redoutables
redoutables
76,999 corpus weight
- reference
reference
76,998 corpus weight
- regarderai
regarderai
76,997 corpus weight
- regroupées
regroupées
76,996 corpus weight
What this shows « reference » siège parmi ces pairs FrequencyWords; la profondeur des fautes est suivie à part dans le graphique d'édition.
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 | reference |
| Language | French |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | \ˈɹɛf.ə.ɹəns\ |
| Letters | 9 |
| Frequency rank | #23,003 |
| Misspellings tracked | 13 |
| Confusable pairs | 3 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Fréquence de l'aimant d'erreurs « reference »
A misspelling magnet
The generator records 13 spelling variants around reference (IPA \ˈɹɛf.ə.ɹəns\), anoun. Corpus frequency is #23,003 among 5,742 “R” headwords. Dominant gloss: "Référence, citation, témoignage.".
Our generated misspelling index lists 13 likely wrong-spelling variants for reference, with forms such as "erference", "reefrence", and "refeernce". 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 3 confusable-pair relationships, "référent", "référents", "références", where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
No documented word history exists for this headword, so its spelling pattern is best understood through pronunciation rather than a traceable origin. The correct French form is reference, spelled R-E-F-E-R-E-N-C-E.
Definition
- 1Référence, citation, témoignage.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how reference appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
In this medieval text, there’s a reference to trade with China.
The list of references appears at the end of each chapter.
Synonyms
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as:
- erference
- reefrence
- refeernce
- referecne
- referencce
- referenec
- referennce
- refernece
- referrence
- refference
- refreence
- rfeerence
- rreference
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of reference - 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 "reference"?
What does "reference" mean?
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What language does "reference" come from?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Similar French words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "reference", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked French headwords with 9 letters (nearest by frequency rank).
Similar misspelling depth
Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (13 here; floor ≥5).