rue

\ʁy\

/\ʁy\/ noun

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

The verdict

“rue” sits in 20 confusable pairs (corpus #438) as a noun. The look-alike neighbours are the real trap.

#438
frequency rank, French
5,742
“R” headwords
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Voie de circulation d'une ville, d'un bourg, d'un village, etc., généralement bordée de maisons ou de propriétés closes.

Corpus desk

Index FR-rue · rue · French

rue · rank #438 · 0 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-CORE #438
  • LEN-MID 3 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 5,742
  • PHOTO-FINISH quelle

Nearest frequency peer: quelle (-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.

Frequency neighbourhood for “rue”

Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)

corpus weight

What this shows Bars show where “rue” sits against the nearest ranked French headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.

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).

rue vs RV
0% similar
rue vs Ry
0% similar
rue vs run
67% similar

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

Key facts for rue
PropertyValue
Headwordrue
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\ʁy\
Letters3
Frequency rank#438
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “rue” sits in French frequency

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).rue lands here:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Easy to mix with look-alikes

The spelling risk for rue is neighbouring look-alikes ("RV", "Ry", …), not just typos; it is anoun pronounced \ʁy\. Frequency #438 among 5,742 “R” headwords. 7 recorded senses keep meaning in play.

Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for rue, a sign its spelling follows regular French conventions. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "RV", "Ry", "run", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

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 rue, spelled R-U-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Voie de circulation d'une ville, d'un bourg, d'un village, etc., généralement bordée de maisons ou de propriétés closes.
  2. 2
    L’ensemble des habitants, des commerces et des piétons d’une rue.
  3. 3
    (Au singulier, précédé de l'article défini « la ») La rue vue comme lieu de manifestation populaire.
  4. 4
    (Au singulier, précédé de l'article défini « la ») Masse populaire manifestant son opinion. → voir descendre dans la rue et rue arabe
  5. 5
    Tranchée vide après son exploitation dans une carrière ou une mine.
  6. 6
    Espace ou passage long et étroit.
  7. 7
    Espace vide vertical produit par l’alignement fortuit de blancs dans une page imprimée.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Une pluie glacée tombait dans les rues miroitantes. Je marchais le long des boutiques, m’appuyant au rebord des devantures pour ne point m’écrouler sur le trottoir.
  2. Aux terrasses des brasseries, échelonnées du faubourg Montmartre, à la rue Drouot, de larges gouttes s'écrasaient sur le sol.

This word in other languages

street(English)calle(Español)Straße(Deutsch)rua(Português)

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.

PlainSpell is rendered directly from structured Wiktionary extracts and open word-frequency lists, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of September 3, 2026. Primary sources: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) and FrequencyWords.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "rue"?
"rue" is spelled R-U-E. The IPA pronunciation is \ʁy\.
What does "rue" mean?
As a noun, "rue" means: Voie de circulation d'une ville, d'un bourg, d'un village, etc., généralement bordée de maisons ou de propriétés closes.
What words are commonly confused with "rue"?
"rue" is commonly confused with "RV", "Ry", "run". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "rue"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "rue" is \ʁy\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "rue" come from?
"rue" 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.

Similar French words by spelling shape

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

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked French headwords with 3 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

sud#439Art#445but#423etc#416

What to do next

You've looked up "rue". Here's where to go from here.

PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.

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