ze

\zø\

/\zø\/ article

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

The verdict

“ze” sits in 20 confusable pairs (corpus #24,448) as an article. The look-alike neighbours are the real trap.

#24,448
frequency rank, French
240
“Z” headwords
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 2, 2026) - Variante orthographique de the. Permet de signaler que l’objet dont on parle est unique, que c’est le meilleur, l’idéal. À l’oral, on en fait le mot principal de la phrase en lui donnant une intona...

Corpus desk

Index FR-ze · ze · French

ze · rank #24,448 · 0 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #24,448
  • LEN-SHORT 2 letters
  • VOW-1 1 vowel
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 240
  • PHOTO-FINISH Yoann

Nearest frequency peer: Yoann (-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.

Frequency neighbourhood for “ze”

Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)

corpus weight

What this shows Bars show where “ze” sits against the nearest ranked French headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 2, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

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

ze vs zu
50% similar
ze vs zi
50% similar
ze vs zo
50% similar

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

Key facts for ze
PropertyValue
Headwordze
LanguageFrench
Part of speechArticle
IPA\zø\
Letters2
Frequency rank#24,448
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “ze” 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). ze lands here:

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

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

Easy to mix with look-alikes

The spelling risk for ze is neighbouring look-alikes ("zu", "zi", …), not just typos; it is anarticle pronounced \zø\. Frequency #24,448 among 240 “Z” headwords. 2 recorded senses keep meaning in play.

No generated misspelling entries exist for ze in our index, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "zu", "zi", "zo", 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 ze, spelled Z-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Variante orthographique de the. Permet de signaler que l’objet dont on parle est unique, que c’est le meilleur, l’idéal. À l’oral, on en fait le mot principal de la phrase en lui donnant une intonation très forte.
  2. 2
    Permet de mettre en emphase la personne dont on parle. Parfois complété de big.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. C’est ze cadeau de Noël.
  2. Un Mac, c’était ze machine pour un graphiste, quoi.

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.

PlainSpell is rendered directly from structured Wiktionary extracts and open word-frequency lists, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of September 2, 2026. Primary sources: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) and FrequencyWords.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "ze"?
"ze" is spelled Z-E. The IPA pronunciation is \zø\.
What does "ze" mean?
As an article, "ze" means: Variante orthographique de the. Permet de signaler que l’objet dont on parle est unique, que c’est le meilleur, l’idéal. À l’oral, on en fait le mot principal de la phrase en lui donnant une intona...
What words are commonly confused with "ze"?
"ze" is commonly confused with "zu", "zi", "zo". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "ze"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "ze" is \zø\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "ze" come from?
"ze" 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.

What to do next

You've looked up "ze". Here's where to go from here.

  • "ze" maps to 20 confusable pairs in this vintage; the highest-scored is "zu". View pair
  • Usage frequency rank #24,448 among French headwords in this corpus. Corpus statistics
  • Browse more French words in the "Z" letter cohort. Z–Z browse

PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.

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