ternit

\tɛʁ.ni\

/\tɛʁ.ni\/ verb

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

The verdict

“ternit” is uncommon French (frequency #69,475 among 164,488 “T” headwords), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#69,475
frequency rank, French
164,488
“T” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Troisième personne du singulier de l’indicatif présent de ternir.

Key facts for ternit
PropertyValue
Headwordternit
LanguageFrench
Part of speechVerb
IPA\tɛʁ.ni\
Letters6
Frequency rank#69,475
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “ternit” 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). ternit 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

ternit is uncommon French at frequency #69,475 among 164,488 “T” headwords, classed as averb, transcribed \tɛʁ.ni\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for ternit, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable French rules. No confusable counterpart is on file for this word, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.

Our source data has no etymology on file for this entry, so spelling patterns must be inferred from the word's phoneme-to-grapheme mapping rather than from a documented borrowing chain. The correct French form is ternit, spelled T-E-R-N-I-T.

Definition

  1. 1
    Troisième personne du singulier de l’indicatif présent de ternir.
  2. 2
    Troisième personne du singulier du passé simple de ternir.

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 "ternit"?
"ternit" is spelled T-E-R-N-I-T. The IPA pronunciation is \tɛʁ.ni\.
What does "ternit" mean?
As a verb, "ternit" means: Troisième personne du singulier de l’indicatif présent de ternir.
How do you pronounce "ternit"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "ternit" is \tɛʁ.ni\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "ternit" come from?
"ternit" 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 “ternit”

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

  • The one correct French spelling is T-E-R-N-I-T - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as \tɛʁ.ni\ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
  • 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