trou

\tʁu\

/\tʁu\/ noun

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

The verdict

“trou” sits in 20 confusable pairs (corpus #2,396) as a noun. The look-alike neighbours are the real trap.

#2,396
frequency rank, French
3,703
“T” headwords
4
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 2, 2026) - Ouverture au travers d’un corps ou qui y pénètre à une certaine profondeur.

Corpus desk

Index FR-trou · trou · French

trou · rank #2,396 · 4 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #2,396
  • LEN-MID 4 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-LOW 4 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,703
  • PHOTO-FINISH tournée

Nearest frequency peer: tournée (-1 rank slots)

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.

Frequency neighbourhood for “trou”

Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)

corpus weight

What this shows Bars show where “trou” sits against the nearest ranked French headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 2, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

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

trou vs tu
50% similar
trou vs two
50% similar
trou vs try
50% similar

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

Key facts for trou
PropertyValue
Headwordtrou
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\tʁu\
Letters4
Frequency rank#2,396
Misspellings tracked4
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “trou” 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). trou lands here:

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

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

Easy to mix with look-alikes

The spelling risk for trou is neighbouring look-alikes ("tu", "two", …), not just typos; it is anoun pronounced \tʁu\. Frequency #2,396 among 3,703 “T” headwords. 15 recorded senses keep meaning in play.

Our generated misspelling index lists 4 likely wrong-spelling variants for trou, with forms such as "rtou", "trrou", and "truo". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "tu", "two", "try", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

No explicit etymology string is stored for this entry, so its spelling is best read as a straightforward mapping from sound to letter. The correct French form is trou, spelled T-R-O-U.

Definition

  1. 1
    Ouverture au travers d’un corps ou qui y pénètre à une certaine profondeur.
  2. 2
    Avantage de douze points, que celui qui les gagne marque par un fichet qu’il met dans un trou.
  3. 3
    Cavité où il faut introduire la balle.
  4. 4
    Parcours pour atteindre un trou.
  5. 5
    Lacune, manque, vide.
  6. 6
    Lieu dont on veut indiquer la petitesse d’une manière exagérée.
  7. 7
    Cachot où sont détenus les prisonniers punis d'infractions aux règles.
  8. 8
    Cachot où sont détenus les prisonniers punis d'infractions aux règles.
  9. 9
    Injection intraveineuse pratiquée par les héroïnomanes.
  10. 10
    Prison dans une enceinte militaire.
  11. 11
    Particule fictive ou quasi-particule à charge positive représentant l'absence d'un électron dans la bande de valence.
  12. 12
    Contrat possible si un joueur reçoit trois as.
  13. 13
    Temps libre entre deux occupations.
  14. 14
    Fosse creusée pour enterrer un mort.
  15. 15
    Appartement minable, trou à rat.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how trou appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Quand le traitant s’habille de toile d’or, la noblesse a des trous à son manteau, mais par ces trous on voit l’honneur.
  2. Sa spécialité consistait à scier les dés et à les piper. Il m'expliqua l'opération, car achetant lui-même l'ivoire, il le débitait en petits cubes dont il forait certains côtés pour les bourrer de plomb, en ayant soin de reboucher ensuite les trous à l'aide d'un mélange de poudre d'os et de sécotine.

Synonyms

brèchecreuxpercementpatelinbledélectron-troutrou d’électrontrou électronique

This word in other languages

hole(English)agujero(Español)Loch(Deutsch)buraco(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • rtou
  • trrou
  • truo
  • ttrou

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

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

rtou2trrou1truo2ttrou1
Edit distance from "trou"

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.

PlainSpell is rendered directly from structured Wiktionary extracts and open word-frequency lists, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of September 2, 2026. Primary sources: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) and FrequencyWords.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "trou"?
"trou" is spelled T-R-O-U. The IPA pronunciation is \tʁu\.
What does "trou" mean?
As a noun, "trou" means: Ouverture au travers d’un corps ou qui y pénètre à une certaine profondeur.
What words are commonly confused with "trou"?
"trou" is commonly confused with "tu", "two", "try". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "trou"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "trou" is \tʁu\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "trou" come from?
"trou" is a French word. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for this and other words across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German on PlainSpell.
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.

Similar French words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "trou", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked French headwords with 4 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

tort#2,394mini#2,371joli#2,426fier#2,365
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