veau
\vo\
The verdict
“veau” is a moderately-common French word, ranked #11,686 in French word frequency and used as a noun.
- #11,686
- frequency rank, French
- 4
- letters
- 4
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Petit de la vache
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | veau |
| Language | French |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | \vo\ |
| Letters | 4 |
| Frequency rank | #11,686 |
| Misspellings tracked | 4 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “veau” sits in French frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The French entry for veau is 4 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as \vo\. Corpus data places it at rank #11,686 in overall French word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 7 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 veau, with forms such as "evau", "vaeu", and "veua". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "vu", "via", "ver", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
No borrowing history is documented for this entry, so its spelling pattern is best understood through pronunciation rather than a traceable origin. The correct French form is veau, spelled V-E-A-U.
Definition
- 1Petit de la vache
- 2Petit des bovins dont la vache, le buffle et le bison ainsi que d'autres mammifères terrestres comme l'élan et marins comme le béluga et le phoque.
- 3Chair du petit de la vache ; viande qu’on a mise en quartiers à la boucherie et qu’on y débite.
- 4Cuir de veau.
- 5Personne nonchalante et stupide.
- 6Vieille voiture qui fonctionne mal.
- 7Masse de glace qui se détache d'un iceberg.
Synonyms
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: evau,vaeu,veua,vveau
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of veau - 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.
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
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Using “veau”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct French spelling is V-E-A-U - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as \vo\ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “vu” - see the side-by-side comparison. veau vs vu
- 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.