safran

/\sa.fʁɑ̃\/ noun

Letters

6 characters

Frequency Rank

#18,590

in French word usage

Misspellings

9

tracked variants

Confusables

9

similar word pairs

safran is aFrenchnoun. It means: Plante (Crocus sativus) de la famille des iridacées qui serait originaire du Népal et dont on extrait une épice. Pronounced \sa.fʁɑ̃\. Often confused with sara and Sarah.

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)

Frequency rank visualization

Position of safran in French word frequency (lower rank = more common)

Source: Wordfreq corpus

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The French entry for safran is 6 letters long, classified as anoun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as \sa.fʁɑ̃\. Corpus data places it at rank #18,590 in overall French word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it.Wiktionary records 7 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our Hunspell-derived misspelling index lists 9 documented wrong-spelling variants for safran, with forms such as "asfran", "safarn", and "saffran". Each variant represents a distinct typo pattern that appears often enough in corpora to be worth flagging, 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, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

No explicit etymology string is stored for this entry, so spelling patterns must be inferred from the word's phoneme-to-grapheme mapping rather than from a documented borrowing chain. For readers arriving here from a spelling check, the authoritative guidance is: the correct French form is safran, spelled S-A-F-R-A-N, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.

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.

Synonyms

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: asfran,safarn,saffran,safrann,safrna,safrran,sarfan,sfaran,ssafran

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

Relative frequency of common misspelling types for safran

Misspelling Variants of "safran"

asfran6safarn6saffran7safrann7safrna6safrran7sarfan6sfaran6
Misspelling Variants of "safran"

Frequency rank: #18,590 in French

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.

Nearby French words

Other entries that begin with the letter S in our French index:

Explore PlainSpell

Data Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Frequency data from Wordfreq. Misspellings derived from Hunspell dictionaries.