Sten

name

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

The verdict

“Sten” is uncommon French (frequency #74,403 among 394,209 “S” headwords), classed as a proper noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#74,403
frequency rank, French
394,209
“S” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Pistolet-mitrailleur britannique des années 1940.

Key facts for Sten
PropertyValue
HeadwordSten
LanguageFrench
Part of speechProper noun
Letters4
Frequency rank#74,403
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “Sten” 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). Sten lands here:

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

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

Rare enough to double-check

Sten is uncommon French at frequency #74,403 among 394,209 “S” headwords, classed as aproper noun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Pistolet-mitrailleur britannique des années 1940.".

Sten doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.

Wiktionary doesn't record an etymology for this headword, leaving phoneme-to-grapheme mapping as the best guide to its spelling rather than a borrowing history. The correct French form is Sten, spelled S-T-E-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    Pistolet-mitrailleur britannique des années 1940.

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 "Sten"?
"Sten" is spelled S-T-E-N.
What does "Sten" mean?
As a proper noun, "Sten" means: Pistolet-mitrailleur britannique des années 1940.
What language does "Sten" come from?
"Sten" 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.

Using “Sten”

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

  • The one correct French spelling is S-T-E-N - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Browse more French words and confusable pairs in the same reference. French words

Other uncommon French words near this rank

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