relais

\ʁə.lɛ\

/\ʁə.lɛ\/ noun

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

The verdict

“relais” is a regularly-used French word, ranked #4,094 in French word frequency and used as a noun.

#4,094
frequency rank, French
6
letters
8
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Un ou plusieurs chevaux frais, soit de selle, soit d’attelage, que l’on poste en quelque endroit pour remplacer ou renforcer ceux qui ont servi jusque-là.

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

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

relais vs repas
67% similar
relais vs remis
67% similar
relais vs relié
67% similar

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

Key facts for relais
PropertyValue
Headwordrelais
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\ʁə.lɛ\
Letters6
Frequency rank#4,094
Misspellings tracked8
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “relais” 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). relais 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 relais is 6 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as \ʁə.lɛ\. Corpus data places it at rank #4,094 in overall French word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 12 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our generated misspelling index lists 8 likely wrong-spelling variants for relais, with forms such as "erlais", "realis", and "relaiss". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "repas", "remis", "relié", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Wiktionary doesn't record an etymology for this headword, so spelling patterns must be inferred from the word's phoneme-to-grapheme mapping rather than from a documented borrowing chain. The correct French form is relais, spelled R-E-L-A-I-S.

Definition

  1. 1
    Un ou plusieurs chevaux frais, soit de selle, soit d’attelage, que l’on poste en quelque endroit pour remplacer ou renforcer ceux qui ont servi jusque-là.
  2. 2
    Se dit aussi en parlant des chiens qu’on poste, soit à la chasse du cerf, soit à celle du sanglier,.
  3. 3
    Lieu où l’on met les chevaux frais, soit pour les voyages soit pour la chasse, où on changeait et entretenait sa monture.
  4. 4
    Lieu d’étape.
  5. 5
    Lieu d’étape.
  6. 6
    Émetteur intermédiaire.
  7. 7
    Émetteur intermédiaire.
  8. 8
    Émetteur intermédiaire.
  9. 9
    Course de relais.
  10. 10
    Changement de cheval en tête d'une course hippique.
  11. 11
    Commutateur ou interrupteur actionné par un électroaimant.
  12. 12
    Dispositif sans pièce mobile assurant la même fonction.

This word in other languages

way station(English)revezamento(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: erlais,realis,relaiss,relasi,relias,rellais,rleais,rrelais

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of relais - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.

erlais2realis2relaiss1relasi2relias2rellais1rleais2rrelais1
Edit distance from "relais"

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 "relais"?
"relais" is spelled R-E-L-A-I-S. The IPA pronunciation is \ʁə.lɛ\.
What does "relais" mean?
As a noun, "relais" means: Un ou plusieurs chevaux frais, soit de selle, soit d’attelage, que l’on poste en quelque endroit pour remplacer ou renforcer ceux qui ont servi jusque-là.
What words are commonly confused with "relais"?
"relais" is commonly confused with "repas", "remis", "relié". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "relais"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "relais" is \ʁə.lɛ\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "relais" come from?
"relais" 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 “relais”

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

  • The one correct French spelling is R-E-L-A-I-S - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as \ʁə.lɛ\ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
  • Don't mix it up with “repas” - see the side-by-side comparison. relais vs repas
  • 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