tonne

\tɔn\

/\tɔn\/ noun

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

The verdict

“tonne” is a regularly-used French word, ranked #8,787 in French word frequency and used as a noun.

#8,787
frequency rank, French
5
letters
4
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Unité de mesure de masse en dehors du Système international (mais dont l’usage est accepté avec le SI), valant mille kilogrammes, et dont le symbole est t. Aussi appelée tonne métrique.

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

tonne vs Tony
40% similar
tonne vs tons
60% similar
tonne vs town
60% similar

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

Key facts for tonne
PropertyValue
Headwordtonne
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\tɔn\
Letters5
Frequency rank#8,787
Misspellings tracked4
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “tonne” 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). tonne lands here:

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

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

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The French entry for tonne is 5 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as \tɔn\. Corpus data places it at rank #8,787 in overall French word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 13 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our generated misspelling index lists 4 likely wrong-spelling variants for tonne, with forms such as "otnne", "tnone", and "tonen". 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 20 confusable-pair relationships, "Tony", "tons", "town", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

This entry's etymology isn't recorded, leaving phoneme-to-grapheme mapping as the best guide to its spelling rather than a borrowing history. The correct French form is tonne, spelled T-O-N-N-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Unité de mesure de masse en dehors du Système international (mais dont l’usage est accepté avec le SI), valant mille kilogrammes, et dont le symbole est t. Aussi appelée tonne métrique.
  2. 2
    Unité de mesure de masse anglo-saxonne, valant soit 2,240 livres (tonne longue) au Royaume-Uni, soit 2,000 livres (tonne courte) aux États-Unis.
  3. 3
    Lourdeur exagérée.
  4. 4
    Quantité énorme.
  5. 5
    Individu de forte corpulence et lourdaud, bête, inapte sur le plan moral.
  6. 6
    Récipient de bois à deux fonds, en forme de muid, qui est plus grand et plus renflé par le milieu que le tonneau.
  7. 7
    Réservoir cylindrique, souvent métallique, monté sur un châssis de remorque, et servant à transporter de l’eau, du purin, du lisier.
  8. 8
    Grosse bouée cylindrique, en bois ou en métal, servant à la signalisation ou à l’amarrage.
  9. 9
    Déplacement d’eau ou poids de marchandises transportées égal à mille kilogrammes environ.
  10. 10
    Unité de mesure de force, plus correctement appelée tonne-force, correspondant à la force que la gravité terrestre exerce sur une tonne de masse.
  11. 11
    Coquille univalve de forme arrondie, synonyme de dolium (genre de mollusque).
  12. 12
    Pièce d’armure formée de lames forgées et articulées protégeant les hanches et le haut des cuisses du guerrier de la fin du Moyen Âge.
  13. 13
    Installation fixe au bord d’un plan d’eau ou « mare de tonne », dans laquelle le chasseur, nommé tonnayre, passe la nuit. La chasse à la tonne est une pratique traditionnelle de certains départements côtiers.

Synonyms

mégagramme

This word in other languages

tonne(English)tonelada(Español)Tonne(Deutsch)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: otnne,tnone,tonen,ttonne

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

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

otnne2tnone2tonen2ttonne1
Edit distance from "tonne"

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 "tonne"?
"tonne" is spelled T-O-N-N-E. The IPA pronunciation is \tɔn\.
What does "tonne" mean?
As a noun, "tonne" means: Unité de mesure de masse en dehors du Système international (mais dont l’usage est accepté avec le SI), valant mille kilogrammes, et dont le symbole est t. Aussi appelée tonne métrique.
What words are commonly confused with "tonne"?
"tonne" is commonly confused with "Tony", "tons", "town". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "tonne"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "tonne" is \tɔn\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "tonne" come from?
"tonne" 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 “tonne”

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

  • The one correct French spelling is T-O-N-N-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as \tɔn\ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
  • Don't mix it up with “Tony” - see the side-by-side comparison. tonne vs Tony
  • 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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list