roi

\ʁwa\

/\ʁwa\/ noun

The verdict

“roi” is in the everyday core of French, ranked #547 in French word frequency and used as a noun.

#547
frequency rank, French
3
letters
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Titre porté par celui qui règne sur un peuple, un État, en particulier un État monarchique, et qui tient sa fonction de l’hérédité ou de l’élection ; celui qui est à la tête d’un royaume.

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

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

roi vs RT
0% similar
roi vs RP
0% similar
roi vs ru
33% similar

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

Key facts for roi
PropertyValue
Headwordroi
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\ʁwa\
Letters3
Frequency rank#547
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “roi” 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). roi 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 roi is 3 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as \ʁwa\. Corpus data places it at rank #547 in overall French word frequency, putting it firmly in the everyday core of the language. Wiktionary records 7 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for roi, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "RT", "RP", "ru", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

This entry's etymology isn't recorded, 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 roi, spelled R-O-I.

Definition

  1. 1
    Titre porté par celui qui règne sur un peuple, un État, en particulier un État monarchique, et qui tient sa fonction de l’hérédité ou de l’élection ; celui qui est à la tête d’un royaume.
  2. 2
    Celui qui est à la tête d’une collectivité.
  3. 3
    Homme qui occupe une position éminente dans un domaine, qui excelle dans sa partie, qui surpasse ses pareils ; celui dont on accomplit toutes les volontés.
  4. 4
    Ellipse de roi des cons.
  5. 5
    Aux cartes, chacune des quatre cartes qui représente une figure masculine couronnée.
  6. 6
    Pièce la plus importante du jeu d’échecs dont il faut s’emparer pour gagner la partie.
  7. 7
    Roi mage, personnage de la Bible venu adorer Jésus à sa naissance.

Synonyms

This word in other languages

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 "roi"?
"roi" is spelled R-O-I. The IPA pronunciation is \ʁwa\.
What does "roi" mean?
As a noun, "roi" means: Titre porté par celui qui règne sur un peuple, un État, en particulier un État monarchique, et qui tient sa fonction de l’hérédité ou de l’élection ; celui qui est à la tête d’un royaume.
What words are commonly confused with "roi"?
"roi" is commonly confused with "RT", "RP", "ru". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "roi"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "roi" is \ʁwa\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "roi" come from?
"roi" 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.

Using “roi”

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

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