tref
\tʁɛf\
The verdict
“tref” is uncommon French (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency French
- 4
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Poutre de gloire.
Corpus desk
Index FR-tref · tref · French
tref · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-MID 4 letters
- VOW-1 1 vowel
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "T" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | tref |
| Language | French |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | \tʁɛf\ |
| Letters | 4 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Longue queue: rang de « tref » en français
Rare enough to double-check
tref is uncommon French outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed \tʁɛf\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.
Zero misspellings are on record for tref in our index, a sign its spelling follows regular French conventions. No confusable counterpart is on file for this word, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.
This entry's etymology isn't recorded, 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 tref, spelled T-R-E-F.
Definition
- 1Poutre de gloire.
- 2Sorte de voile carrée.
- 3Tente, pavillon soutenu par un mât central, abritant un seigneur lors des guerres.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how tref appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Il s’ouvre sur la nef par un arc triomphal en arc brisé portant encore à la base de l’arc les traces d'un tref, ou poutre de gloire. On posait des lumières sur cette poutre de bois placée en travers du chœur.
On reconnaît facilement dans le « tref » une très ancienne voile carrée qui avait commencé sa carrière sur les longues nefs normandes, comme grand’voile, ou, selon Jal, comme voile de tourmente distincte.
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.