symbole
\sɛ̃.bɔl\
The verdict
“symbole” is a regularly-used French word, ranked #3,107 in French word frequency and used as a noun.
- #3,107
- frequency rank, French
- 7
- letters
- 11
- tracked misspellings
- 5
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Figure ou image qui sert à désigner une chose le plus souvent abstraite, une idée ou un concept.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | symbole |
| Language | French |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | \sɛ̃.bɔl\ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Frequency rank | #3,107 |
| Misspellings tracked | 11 |
| Confusable pairs | 5 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “symbole” sits in French frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The French entry for symbole is 7 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as \sɛ̃.bɔl\. Corpus data places it at rank #3,107 in overall French word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 7 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 11 likely wrong-spelling variants for symbole, with forms such as "smybole", "ssymbole", and "sybmole". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 5 confusable-pair relationships, "symboles", "symbolisé", "semble", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
No borrowing history is documented for this entry, so its spelling is easiest explained by how it's pronounced rather than where it came from. The correct French form is symbole, spelled S-Y-M-B-O-L-E.
Definition
- 1Figure ou image qui sert à désigner une chose le plus souvent abstraite, une idée ou un concept.
- 2Figure qu’on voit sur les médailles et qui sert à désigner soit des hommes ou des divinités, soit des parties du monde, des royaumes, des provinces ou des villes.
- 3Lettre ou ensemble de lettres, qui sert à désigner un corps simple.
- 4Formulaire qui contient les principaux articles de la foi.
- 5Figuration graphique, colorée et/ou alphanumérique, affectée à un phénomène pour le représenter sur la carte.
- 6Outil d'humiliation publique de la politique linguistique d'État afin de forcer les élèves à parler la langue d’enseignement. Sous la forme d'un objet à porter autour du cou, il est spécifiquement utilisé dans les écoles primaires francophones aux XIXe et XXe siècles pour interdire l'usage des langues maternelles régionales.
- 7Signe lié à un objet par un lien purement conventionnel et arbitraire.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: smybole,ssymbole,sybmole,symbbole,symbloe,symboel,symbolle,symmbole,symoble,syymbole,ysmbole
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of symbole - 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.
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 "symbole"?
What does "symbole" mean?
What words are commonly confused with "symbole"?
How do you pronounce "symbole"?
What language does "symbole" come from?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Using “symbole”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct French spelling is S-Y-M-B-O-L-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as \sɛ̃.bɔl\ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “symboles” - see the side-by-side comparison. symbole vs symboles
- 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.