renard

\ʁə.naʁ\

/\ʁə.naʁ\/ noun

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

The verdict

“renard” is a regularly-used French word, ranked #8,144 in French word frequency and used as a noun.

#8,144
frequency rank, French
6
letters
9
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Mammifère carnivore, au museau pointu et aux oreilles droites, d’un parmi plusieurs genres de la famille des canidés (Vulpes, Atelocynus, Cerdocyon, Dusicyon, Otocyon, Lycalopex, Urocyon).

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

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

renard vs rend
67% similar
renard vs rendre
67% similar
renard vs retard
83% similar

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

Key facts for renard
PropertyValue
Headwordrenard
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\ʁə.naʁ\
Letters6
Frequency rank#8,144
Misspellings tracked9
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “renard” 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). renard 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 renard is 6 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as \ʁə.naʁ\. Corpus data places it at rank #8,144 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 9 likely wrong-spelling variants for renard, with forms such as "ernard", "reanrd", and "renadr". 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 20 confusable-pair relationships, "rend", "rendre", "retard", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

This entry carries no recorded etymology, so any spelling logic here comes from how the word's sounds map to letters, not a documented origin story. The correct French form is renard, spelled R-E-N-A-R-D.

Definition

  1. 1
    Mammifère carnivore, au museau pointu et aux oreilles droites, d’un parmi plusieurs genres de la famille des canidés (Vulpes, Atelocynus, Cerdocyon, Dusicyon, Otocyon, Lycalopex, Urocyon).
  2. 2
    Fourrure de renard.
  3. 3
    Personnage cauteleux, fin et rusé.
  4. 4
    Ouvrier qui refuse de faire la grève ; jaune.
  5. 5
    Ancien outil de navigation, plateau circulaire de bois ou de cuivre, permettant au timonier de noter les conditions de vent aux demi-heures à l’aide de chevilles.
  6. 6
    Fentes ou trous par lesquels les eaux d’un bassin ou d’un réservoir se perdent et qu’il est difficile de découvrir.
  7. 7
    Bâtiment feint.
  8. 8
    Par ellipse de queue de renard, vomissement, vomi, vomissure. Surtout après une cuite avinée, la gerbe vomie a une couleur orangée rappelant celle de l’animal.
  9. 9
    Loupe détachée de la gueuse par le feu de la chaufferie. La métaphore est identique au sens précédent, le métal en fusion ayant une couleur orangée.
  10. 10
    Flatulence.
  11. 11
    Synonyme de requin-renard.
  12. 12
    Meuble représentant l’animal du même nom dans les armoiries. Il est généralement représenté passant et, contrairement au loup, a la queue abaissée. À rapprocher de chien, goupil, levrette, lévrier et loup.

Synonyms

goupil

This word in other languages

fox(English)zorro(Español)Fuchs(Deutsch)raposa(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: ernard,reanrd,renadr,renardd,renarrd,rennard,renrad,rneard,rrenard

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of renard - 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.

ernard2reanrd2renadr2renardd1renarrd1rennard1renrad2rneard2
Edit distance from "renard"

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 "renard"?
"renard" is spelled R-E-N-A-R-D. The IPA pronunciation is \ʁə.naʁ\.
What does "renard" mean?
As a noun, "renard" means: Mammifère carnivore, au museau pointu et aux oreilles droites, d’un parmi plusieurs genres de la famille des canidés (Vulpes, Atelocynus, Cerdocyon, Dusicyon, Otocyon, Lycalopex, Urocyon).
What words are commonly confused with "renard"?
"renard" is commonly confused with "rend", "rendre", "retard". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "renard"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "renard" is \ʁə.naʁ\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "renard" come from?
"renard" is a French word. PlainSpell covers definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German.
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 “renard”

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

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