white

\ˈwaɪt\

/\ˈwaɪt\/ adj

The verdict

“white” is a regularly-used French word, ranked #5,307 in French word frequency and used as an adjective.

#5,307
frequency rank, French
5
letters
7
tracked misspellings
17
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Blanc (de la couleur blanche).

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

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

white vs wie
60% similar
white vs with
60% similar
white vs wine
60% similar

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

Key facts for white
PropertyValue
Headwordwhite
LanguageFrench
Part of speechAdjective
IPA\ˈwaɪt\
Letters5
Frequency rank#5,307
Misspellings tracked7
Confusable pairs17
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “white” 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). white 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 white is 5 letters long, classified as an adjective, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as \ˈwaɪt\. Corpus data places it at rank #5,307 in overall French word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "Blanc (de la couleur blanche).".

Our generated misspelling index lists 7 likely wrong-spelling variants for white, with forms such as "hwite", "whhite", and "whiet". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 17 confusable-pair relationships, "wie", "with", "wine", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

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 white, spelled W-H-I-T-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Blanc (de la couleur blanche).

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: hwite,whhite,whiet,whitte,whtie,wihte,wwhite

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

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

hwite2whhite1whiet2whitte1whtie2wihte2wwhite1
Edit distance from "white"

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 "white"?
"white" is spelled W-H-I-T-E. The IPA pronunciation is \ˈwaɪt\.
What does "white" mean?
As an adjective, "white" means: Blanc (de la couleur blanche).
What words are commonly confused with "white"?
"white" is commonly confused with "wie", "with", "wine". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "white"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "white" is \ˈwaɪt\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "white" come from?
"white" 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.

Using “white”

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

  • The one correct French spelling is W-H-I-T-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as \ˈwaɪt\ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
  • Don't mix it up with “wie” - see the side-by-side comparison. white vs wie
  • 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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list