volée

\vɔ.le\

/\vɔ.le\/ noun

The verdict

“volée” is a regularly-used French word, ranked #8,055 in French word frequency and used as a noun.

#8,055
frequency rank, French
5
letters
7
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) — Action de voler, vol, envol, en parlant des oiseaux et de certains animaux comme les insectes.

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

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

volée vs vote
60% similar
volée vs vols
60% similar
volée vs voue
60% similar

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

Key facts for volée
PropertyValue
Headwordvolée
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\vɔ.le\
Letters5
Frequency rank#8,055
Misspellings tracked7
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “volée” 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). volée lands here:

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

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

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The French entry for volée is 5 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as \vɔ.le\. Corpus data places it at rank #8,055 in overall French word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 18 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our generated misspelling index lists 7 likely wrong-spelling variants for volée, with forms such as "ovlée", "vloée", and "volee". 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, "vote", "vols", "voue", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

No explicit etymology string is stored for this entry, so spelling patterns must be inferred from the word's phoneme-to-grapheme mapping rather than from a documented borrowing chain. For readers arriving here from a spelling check, the authoritative guidance is: the correct French form is volée, spelled V-O-L-É-E, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.

Definition

  1. 1
    Action de voler, vol, envol, en parlant des oiseaux et de certains animaux comme les insectes.
  2. 2
    Bande d’oiseaux qui volent ensemble.
  3. 3
    Ensemble des couvées du même mois, en parlant des pigeons,
  4. 4
    Gens qui sont de même âge, de même profession, de même condition, et surtout des jeunes gens.
  5. 5
    Élévation.
  6. 6
    Rang, qualité.
  7. 7
    Partie d'une pièce d’artillerie comprise entre les tourillons et la bouche.
  8. 8
    Branle des cloches.
  9. 9
    Ensemble de coups nombreux et consécutifs.
  10. 10
    Raclée ; coups portés à mains nues.
  11. 11
    Décharge, en parlant de plusieurs canons qui tirent en même temps.
  12. 12
    Groupe de trous de mines mis à feu en même temps.
  13. 13
    Pièce de bois transversale fixée soit à l’avant d’une voiture, soit à l’extrémité d’un timon pour y attacher les traits des chevaux de second rang.
  14. 14
    Planches en travers de la roue d’une usine, qui entrent dans l’eau.
  15. 15
    Mouvement d’une balle ou d’un ballon depuis le moment où ils sont lancés jusqu’à celui où ils touchent le sol, au tennis, jeu de paume ou jeux de ballon.
  16. 16
    Succession de marches d’un escalier entre deux paliers.
  17. 17
    Succession d'échelons d'une échelle ou des brins fixes d'une échelle coulissante.
  18. 18
    Un grand nombre, une grande quantité.

Synonyms

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: ovlée,vloée,volee,voleé,vollée,voéle,vvolée

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of volée - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.

Edit distance from "volée"

ovlée2vloée2volee1voleé2vollée1voéle2vvolée1
Edit distance from "volée"

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.

Cite this page

Free to reuse with attribution (CC BY-SA). Copy the citation:

PlainSpell, “volée, French word data” (May 6, 2026). Derived from Wiktionary (kaikki.org, CC BY-SA) and an open word-frequency list. https://plainspell.com/fr/mot/volee

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "volée"?
"volée" is spelled V-O-L-É-E. The IPA pronunciation is \vɔ.le\.
What does "volée" mean?
As a noun, "volée" means: Action de voler, vol, envol, en parlant des oiseaux et de certains animaux comme les insectes.
What words are commonly confused with "volée"?
"volée" is commonly confused with "vote", "vols", "voue". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "volée"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "volée" is \vɔ.le\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "volée" come from?
"volée" 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.

Using “volée”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct French spelling is V-O-L-É-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as \vɔ.le\ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
  • Don't mix it up with “vote” - see the side-by-side comparison. volée vs vote
  • Browse more French words and confusable pairs in the same reference. French words

Nearby French words

Other entries that begin with the letter V in our French index:

Explore PlainSpell

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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list