usance

\y.zɑ̃s\

/\y.zɑ̃s\/ noun

The verdict

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

Unranked
below top-frequency French
6
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - En droit commercial, règle découlant de pratiques généralement reconnues.

Corpus desk

Index FR-usance · usance · French

usance · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "U" 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.

Key facts for usance
PropertyValue
Headwordusance
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\y.zɑ̃s\
Letters6
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Longue queue: rang de « usance » en français

usancereste hors des 100.000 mots français les plus fréquents, dans la longue queue du vocabulaire technique, archaïque ou rare, là où le doute d'orthographe frappe.

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

Rare enough to double-check

usance is uncommon French outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed \y.zɑ̃s\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.

usance doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. Our dataset records no confusable match here, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.

No documented word history exists for this headword, leaving phoneme-to-grapheme mapping as the best guide to its spelling rather than a borrowing history. The correct French form is usance, spelled U-S-A-N-C-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    En droit commercial, règle découlant de pratiques généralement reconnues.
  2. 2
    Terme fixé pour le payement d’une lettre de change, il est généralement de trente jours.
  3. 3
    Coutume, usage.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Les Règles et Usances Uniformes (RUU) sont un ensemble de règles utilisées notamment pour les lettres de crédit de la Chambre de commerce internationale (CCI/ICC). Les RUU sont utilisées par les banques et commerçants dans plus de 175 pays.
  2. C’est une usance qui apporte des commodités singulières aux nations où elle est observée, & désirable à tous bons princes qui ont à se plaindre de ce qu’on traite la mémoire des méchants comme la leur.

Synonyms

This word in other languages

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 "usance"?
"usance" is spelled U-S-A-N-C-E. The IPA pronunciation is \y.zɑ̃s\.
What does "usance" mean?
As a noun, "usance" means: En droit commercial, règle découlant de pratiques généralement reconnues.
How do you pronounce "usance"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "usance" is \y.zɑ̃s\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "usance" come from?
"usance" 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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list