versus

\vɛʁ.sys\

/\vɛʁ.sys\/ prep

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

The verdict

“versus” has 9 generated spelling variants in the French index at frequency #19,709. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#19,709
frequency rank, French
2,061
“V” headwords
9
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Contre, en opposition à, face à, comparé à. Note d’usage : Sert à marquer une opposition, une contradiction ou une comparaison entre deux choses.

Corpus desk

Index FR-versus · versus · French

versus · rank #19,709 · 9 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #19,709
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 9 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,061
  • PHOTO-FINISH vendanges

Nearest frequency peer: vendanges (-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.

Pairs de rang près de l'aimant d'erreurs « versus »

Même bande de rareté: utile si une faute tombe sur un lemme voisin

corpus weight

What this shows « versus » siège parmi ces pairs FrequencyWords; la profondeur des fautes est suivie à part dans le graphique d'édition.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

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

versus vs virus
67% similar
versus vs verts
67% similar
versus vs vertu
67% similar

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

Key facts for versus
PropertyValue
Headwordversus
LanguageFrench
Part of speechPreposition
IPA\vɛʁ.sys\
Letters6
Frequency rank#19,709
Misspellings tracked9
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Fréquence de l'aimant d'erreurs « versus »

Cette échelle va du noyau du français courant (gauche) jusqu'à la traîne des formes rares (droite).versusse place ici:

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

L'axe est logarithmique: chaque tic marque environ dix fois moins de fréquence. Dans la même bande de rareté figurent « vendanges » (#19,708), « virent » (#19,710), « valais » (#19,707). Parmi 2,061 lemmes en « V », « versus » est au #19,709. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 9 spelling variants around versus (IPA \vɛʁ.sys\), apreposition. Corpus frequency is #19,709 among 2,061 “V” headwords. Dominant gloss: "Contre, en opposition à, face à, comparé à. Note d’usage : Sert à marquer une opposition, une contradiction ou une comparaison entre deux choses.".

Our generated misspelling index lists 9 likely wrong-spelling variants for versus, with forms such as "evrsus", "verrsus", and "verssu". 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, "virus", "verts", "vertu", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Wiktionary doesn't record an etymology for this headword, 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 versus, spelled V-E-R-S-U-S.

Definition

  1. 1
    Contre, en opposition à, face à, comparé à. Note d’usage : Sert à marquer une opposition, une contradiction ou une comparaison entre deux choses.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. iPhone 6 versus iPhone 6S, quelles sont les différences ? (journaldugeek.com)
  2. Et la même proportion pense que ces affaires vont affaiblir « durablement l'ensemble des syndicats de salariés en France », versus 30 % qui parient sur un tassement.

This word in other languages

versus(English)contra(Español)versus(Deutsch)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • evrsus
  • verrsus
  • verssu
  • verssus
  • versuss
  • veruss
  • vesrus
  • vresus
  • vversus

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of versus - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.

evrsus2verrsus1verssu2verssus1versuss1veruss2vesrus2vresus2
Edit distance from "versus"

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

How do you spell "versus"?
"versus" is spelled V-E-R-S-U-S. The IPA pronunciation is \vɛʁ.sys\.
What does "versus" mean?
As a preposition, "versus" means: Contre, en opposition à, face à, comparé à. Note d’usage : Sert à marquer une opposition, une contradiction ou une comparaison entre deux choses.
What words are commonly confused with "versus"?
"versus" is commonly confused with "virus", "verts", "vertu". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "versus"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "versus" is \vɛʁ.sys\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "versus" come from?
"versus" 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.

Similar French words by spelling shape

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

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked French headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

virent#19,710valais#19,707tribut#19,705wonder#19,714

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (9 here; floor ≥5).

épines9 variantsabusive9 variantsstrike9 variantssaleté9 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list