safran

\sa.fʁɑ̃\

/\sa.fʁɑ̃\/ noun

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

The verdict

“safran” has 9 generated spelling variants in the French index at frequency #18,590. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#18,590
frequency rank, French
6,032
“S” headwords
9
tracked misspellings
9
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Plante (Crocus sativus) de la famille des iridacées qui serait originaire du Népal et dont on extrait une épice.

Corpus desk

Index FR-safran · safran · French

safran · rank #18,590 · 9 variants · 9 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #18,590
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-MID 9 pairs
  • VAR-MID 9 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 6,032
  • PHOTO-FINISH sabotage

Nearest frequency peer: sabotage (-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 « safran »

Même bande de rareté: utile si une faute tombe sur un lemme voisin

corpus weight

What this shows « safran » siège parmi ces pairs FrequencyWords; la profondeur des fautes est suivie à part dans le graphique d'édition.

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).

safran vs sara
67% similar
safran vs Sarah
50% similar
safran vs saura
67% similar

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

Key facts for safran
PropertyValue
Headwordsafran
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\sa.fʁɑ̃\
Letters6
Frequency rank#18,590
Misspellings tracked9
Confusable pairs9
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Fréquence de l'aimant d'erreurs « safran »

La fréquence va de la poignée de mots du quotidien (gauche) à la longue queue presque jamais vue (droite).safranse place ici:

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

L'échelle est logarithmique (chaque tic ≈ 10× plus rare). Dans la même bande de rareté figurent « sabotage » (#18,589), « Samir » (#18,591), « réélection » (#18,588). Parmi 6,032 lemmes en « S », « safran » est au #18,590. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 9 spelling variants around safran (IPA \sa.fʁɑ̃\), anoun. Corpus frequency is #18,590 among 6,032 “S” headwords. Wiktionary lists 7 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 9 likely wrong-spelling variants for safran, with forms such as "asfran", "safarn", and "saffran". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 9 confusable-pair relationships, "sara", "Sarah", "saura", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

No explicit etymology string is stored for this entry, so its spelling is best read as a straightforward mapping from sound to letter. The correct French form is safran, spelled S-A-F-R-A-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    Plante (Crocus sativus) de la famille des iridacées qui serait originaire du Népal et dont on extrait une épice.
  2. 2
    Épice tirée des stigmates d’une espèce de crocus. C’est à la fois un pigment aromatique et une épice colorée, qui n’a pas beaucoup de goût mais qui dégage un parfum délicieux. Cette épice est aussi appelée « l’or rouge ».
  3. 3
    Colorant orange ou jaune verdâtre extrait des stigmates de cette plante.
  4. 4
    Couleur jaune soutenu tirant sur l’orangé. #F3D617
  5. 5
    Préparation médicinale composée des parties de cette plante et utilisée comme stimulant.
  6. 6
    Lumière jaune mêlée d'un peu de rouge qui est celle du jour qui se lève.
  7. 7
    Curcuma.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Ses 250 000 bulbes de safran emportés par les eaux à Abbotsford, en C.-B.
  2. Dans mon affliction j’oubliais de remplir mon office : je ne veillais plus sur les champs, et mon jardin fertile n’avait plus d’intérêt pour moi ; les lis étaient tombés, on pouvait voir les violettes se dessécher et languir les étamines du safran orangé.

Synonyms

safran cultivécrocus cultivésafran du Gâtinaissafran médicinal

This word in other languages

saffron(English)azafrán(Español)Safran(Deutsch)açafrão(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • asfran
  • safarn
  • saffran
  • safrann
  • safrna
  • safrran
  • sarfan
  • sfaran
  • ssafran

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

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

asfran2safarn2saffran1safrann1safrna2safrran1sarfan2sfaran2
Edit distance from "safran"

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 "safran"?
"safran" is spelled S-A-F-R-A-N. The IPA pronunciation is \sa.fʁɑ̃\.
What does "safran" mean?
As a noun, "safran" means: Plante (Crocus sativus) de la famille des iridacées qui serait originaire du Népal et dont on extrait une épice.
What words are commonly confused with "safran"?
"safran" is commonly confused with "sara", "Sarah", "saura". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "safran"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "safran" is \sa.fʁɑ̃\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "safran" come from?
"safran" 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.

Similar French words by spelling shape

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

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked French headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

slalom#18,597tanger#18,604regain#18,575queues#18,573

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (9 here; floor ≥5).

ramassé9 variantsthorax9 variantsverger9 variantspiston9 variants

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list