tour de main

\tuʁ də mɛ̃\

/\tuʁ də mɛ̃\/ noun

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

The verdict

“tour de main” is uncommon French (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency French
12
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Coup de main au sens savoir-faire.

Key facts for tour de main
PropertyValue
Headwordtour de main
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\tuʁ də mɛ̃\
Letters12
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “tour de main” sits in French frequency

tour de main falls outside the top-100,000 ranked French words, the long-tail zone of technical, archaic, or low-frequency vocabulary, exactly where readers second-guess spellings most.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

tour de main is uncommon French outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed \tuʁ də mɛ̃\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

tour de main has no tracked misspelling variants, a sign its spelling follows regular French conventions. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.

This entry carries no recorded etymology, 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 tour de main, spelled T-O-U-R- -D-E- -M-A-I-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    Coup de main au sens savoir-faire.
  2. 2
    Tour d’habileté, de dextérité, d’adresse, pour obtenir un effet d’illusion.

Synonyms

tour de passe-passe

This word in other languages

sleight of hand(English)Handumdrehen(Deutsch)

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "tour de main"?
"tour de main" is spelled T-O-U-R- -D-E- -M-A-I-N. The IPA pronunciation is \tuʁ də mɛ̃\.
What does "tour de main" mean?
As a noun, "tour de main" means: Coup de main au sens savoir-faire.
How do you pronounce "tour de main"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "tour de main" is \tuʁ də mɛ̃\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "tour de main" come from?
"tour de main" is a French word. PlainSpell covers definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German.
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 “tour de main”

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

  • The one correct French spelling is T-O-U-R- -D-E- -M-A-I-N - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as \tuʁ də mɛ̃\ (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
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