serpent

\sɛʁ.pɑ̃\

/\sɛʁ.pɑ̃\/ noun

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

The verdict

“serpent” has 11 generated spelling variants in the French index at frequency #6,554. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#6,554
frequency rank, French
6,032
“S” headwords
11
tracked misspellings
18
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Reptile apode de l’ordre des squamates, au corps très allongé et cylindrique.

Corpus desk

Index FR-serpent · serpent · French

serpent · rank #6,554 · 11 variants · 18 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #6,554
  • LEN-LONG 7 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 18 pairs
  • VAR-MID 11 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 6,032
  • PHOTO-FINISH saviez

Nearest frequency peer: saviez (-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 « serpent »

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

corpus weight

What this shows « serpent » 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).

serpent vs servent
86% similar
serpent vs sortent
71% similar
serpent vs servant
71% similar

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

Key facts for serpent
PropertyValue
Headwordserpent
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\sɛʁ.pɑ̃\
Letters7
Frequency rank#6,554
Misspellings tracked11
Confusable pairs18
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Fréquence de l'aimant d'erreurs « serpent »

Cette échelle va du noyau du français courant (gauche) jusqu'à la traîne des formes rares (droite).serpentse 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 « saviez » (#6,553), « serré » (#6,555), « saga » (#6,552). Parmi 6,032 lemmes en « S », « serpent » est au #6,554. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 11 spelling variants around serpent (IPA \sɛʁ.pɑ̃\), anoun. Corpus frequency is #6,554 among 6,032 “S” headwords. Wiktionary lists 8 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 11 likely wrong-spelling variants for serpent, with forms such as "esrpent", "seprent", and "serepnt". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 18 confusable-pair relationships, "servent", "sortent", "servant", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

This entry carries no recorded etymology, so its spelling pattern is best understood through pronunciation rather than a traceable origin. The correct French form is serpent, spelled S-E-R-P-E-N-T.

Definition

  1. 1
    Reptile apode de l’ordre des squamates, au corps très allongé et cylindrique.
  2. 2
    Symbole du mal et de la Chute; symbole de la tentation mensongère et néfaste.
  3. 3
    Peau de cet animal.
  4. 4
    Instrument de musique à vent, de forme serpentine, employé dans les églises pour soutenir les voix.
  5. 5
    Celui qui joue de cet instrument.
  6. 6
    Sergent de police.
  7. 7
    Meuble représentant l’animal du même nom dans les armoiries. Il est utilisé quand il n’y a pas d’identification possible de l’espèce. Il peut être représenté de différentes façons, seul ou enserrant d’autres meubles (fût de colonne ou de flèche, miroir…). S’il dévore un animal ou être humain, il est appelé guivre. À rapprocher de bisse et couleuvre.
  8. 8
    Traître, félon.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Certains des serpents se dressent pour l’attaquer, mais il les ravage de son talon pilonneur, impitoyable et précis. Bientôt, l’écheveau de reptiles n’a plus que des soubresauts agoniques.
  2. La vipère, qui se révéla être un serpent ratier du Texas, suivit à la trace les gouttes de lait répandues à même les rochers encore chauds.

This word in other languages

snake(English)serpiente(Español)Schlange(Deutsch)serpente(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • esrpent
  • seprent
  • serepnt
  • serpennt
  • serpentt
  • serpetn
  • serpnet
  • serppent
  • serrpent
  • srepent
  • sserpent

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of serpent - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.

esrpent2seprent2serepnt2serpennt1serpentt1serpetn2serpnet2serppent1
Edit distance from "serpent"

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 "serpent"?
"serpent" is spelled S-E-R-P-E-N-T. The IPA pronunciation is \sɛʁ.pɑ̃\.
What does "serpent" mean?
As a noun, "serpent" means: Reptile apode de l’ordre des squamates, au corps très allongé et cylindrique.
What words are commonly confused with "serpent"?
"serpent" is commonly confused with "servent", "sortent", "servant". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "serpent"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "serpent" is \sɛʁ.pɑ̃\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "serpent" come from?
"serpent" 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 "serpent", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked French headwords with 7 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

spectre#6,558sublime#6,561tentent#6,563partiel#6,537

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (11 here; floor ≥5).

tactique11 variantspartielle11 variantséternel11 variantsNathalie11 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list