silence

\si.lɑ̃s\

/\si.lɑ̃s\/ noun

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

The verdict

“silence” has 10 generated spelling variants in the French index at frequency #1,608. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#1,608
frequency rank, French
6,032
“S” headwords
10
tracked misspellings
9
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Absence de bruit.

Corpus desk

Index FR-silence · silence · French

silence · rank #1,608 · 10 variants · 9 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #1,608
  • LEN-LONG 7 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-MID 9 pairs
  • VAR-MID 10 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 6,032
  • PHOTO-FINISH salon

Nearest frequency peer: salon (-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 “silence”

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

corpus weight

What this shows Bars show where “silence” 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).

silence vs since
71% similar
silence vs sirène
57% similar
silence vs silice
71% similar

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

Key facts for silence
PropertyValue
Headwordsilence
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\si.lɑ̃s\
Letters7
Frequency rank#1,608
Misspellings tracked10
Confusable pairs9
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “silence” 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). silence lands here:

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

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

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 10 spelling variants around silence (IPA \si.lɑ̃s\), anoun. Corpus frequency is #1,608 among 6,032 “S” headwords. Wiktionary lists 8 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 10 likely wrong-spelling variants for silence, with forms such as "islence", "sielnce", and "silecne". 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 9 confusable-pair relationships, "since", "sirène", "silice", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

This headword's origin isn't recorded in our source data, so its spelling is best explained by sound-to-letter mapping rather than etymology. The correct French form is silence, spelled S-I-L-E-N-C-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Absence de bruit.
  2. 2
    Le fait de se taire, de ne plus faire de bruit.
  3. 3
    Action de ne pas exprimer sa pensée, oralement ou par écrit ; fait de se taire.
  4. 4
    Pratique religieuse observée dans la plupart des communautés monastiques.
  5. 5
    Absence de mention d’une chose, du manque de témoignage sur un sujet, sur un fait.
  6. 6
    Absence d’un document pertinent dans un moteur de recherche.
  7. 7
    Interruption du son dans une phrase musicale.
  8. 8
    Signes qui marquent cette interruption.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Si tout est silence et repos dans les savanes de l’autre côté du fleuve, tout ici, au contraire, est mouvement et murmure : […].
  2. Tout était calme autour de lui ; on était arrivé à cette heure mystérieuse de la nuit où la nature semble dormir, et où tous les bruits sans nom de la solitude s’éteignent pour ne laisser, suivant l’expression indienne, entendre que le silence.

Synonyms

calme

Antonyms

bruitcacophoniemélodiemusiqueson

This word in other languages

silence(English)silencio(Español)Stille(Deutsch)silêncio(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • islence
  • sielnce
  • silecne
  • silencce
  • silenec
  • silennce
  • sillence
  • silnece
  • slience
  • ssilence

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

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

islence2sielnce2silecne2silencce1silenec2silennce1sillence1silnece2
Edit distance from "silence"

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 "silence"?
"silence" is spelled S-I-L-E-N-C-E. The IPA pronunciation is \si.lɑ̃s\.
What does "silence" mean?
As a noun, "silence" means: Absence de bruit.
What words are commonly confused with "silence"?
"silence" is commonly confused with "since", "sirène", "silice". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "silence"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "silence" is \si.lɑ̃s\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "silence" come from?
"silence" 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 "silence", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

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

univers#1,612naturel#1,602acteurs#1,617machine#1,599

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (10 here; floor ≥5).

docteur10 variantscrédit10 variantschâteau10 variantsrappeler10 variants

What to do next

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

  • "silence" maps to 9 confusable pairs in this vintage; the highest-scored is "since". View pair
  • 10 edit-distance misspelling variants are generated for spell-check research on this headword. See variants
  • Usage frequency rank #1,608 among French headwords in this corpus. Corpus statistics
  • Browse more French words in the "S" letter cohort. S–Z browse

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