sea

\siː\

/\siː\/ noun

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

The verdict

“sea” is a moderately-common French word, ranked #13,258 in French word frequency and used as a noun.

#13,258
frequency rank, French
3
letters
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Mer.

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

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

sea vs si
33% similar
sea vs st
33% similar
sea vs su
33% similar

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

Key facts for sea
PropertyValue
Headwordsea
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\siː\
Letters3
Frequency rank#13,258
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “sea” 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). sea 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 sea is 3 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as \siː\. Corpus data places it at rank #13,258 in overall French word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 4 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

No misspelling variants are generated for sea in our index, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "si", "st", "su", 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 its spelling is best explained by sound-to-letter mapping rather than etymology. The correct French form is sea, spelled S-E-A.

Definition

  1. 1
    Mer.
  2. 2
    Mare.
  3. 3
    Parage.
  4. 4
    Vaste étendue.

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 "sea"?
"sea" is spelled S-E-A. The IPA pronunciation is \siː\.
What does "sea" mean?
As a noun, "sea" means: Mer.
What words are commonly confused with "sea"?
"sea" is commonly confused with "si", "st", "su". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "sea"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "sea" is \siː\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "sea" come from?
"sea" 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 “sea”

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

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