zeste

/\zɛst\/ noun

Letters

5 characters

Frequency Rank

#36,665

in French word usage

Misspellings

7

tracked variants

Confusables

4

similar word pairs

zeste is aFrenchnoun. It means: Partie mince et colorée qu’on coupe sur le dessus de l’écorce des agrumes (orange, citron, cédrat, etc…). Pronounced \zɛst\. Often confused with zee and zèle.

Key facts for zeste
PropertyValue
Headwordzeste
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\zɛst\
Letters5
Frequency rank#36,665
Misspellings tracked7
Confusable pairs4
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency rank visualization

Position of zeste in French word frequency (lower rank = more common)

Source: Wordfreq corpus

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The French entry for zeste is 5 letters long, classified as anoun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as \zɛst\. Corpus data places it at rank #36,665 in overall French word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it.Wiktionary records 3 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our Hunspell-derived misspelling index lists 7 documented wrong-spelling variants for zeste, with forms such as "ezste", "zeset", and "zesste". Each variant represents a distinct typo pattern that appears often enough in corpora to be worth flagging, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution.It also participates in 4 confusable-pair relationships, "zee", "zèle", "Zeit", 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 zeste, spelled Z-E-S-T-E, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.

Definition

  1. 1
    Partie mince et colorée qu’on coupe sur le dessus de l’écorce des agrumes (orange, citron, cédrat, etc…).
  2. 2
    Cloison membraneuse qui divise en quatre l’intérieur d’une noix.
  3. 3
    Petite quantité de quelque chose.

Synonyms

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: ezste,zeset,zesste,zestte,zetse,zsete,zzeste

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

Relative frequency of common misspelling types for zeste

Misspelling Variants of "zeste"

ezste5zeset5zesste6zestte6zetse5zsete5zzeste6
Misspelling Variants of "zeste"

Frequency rank: #36,665 in French

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "zeste"?
"zeste" is spelled Z-E-S-T-E. The IPA pronunciation is \zɛst\.
What does "zeste" mean?
As a noun, "zeste" means: Partie mince et colorée qu’on coupe sur le dessus de l’écorce des agrumes (orange, citron, cédrat, etc…).
What words are commonly confused with "zeste"?
"zeste" is commonly confused with "zee", "zèle", "Zeit". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "zeste"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "zeste" is \zɛst\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "zeste" come from?
"zeste" 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.

Nearby French words

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

Explore PlainSpell

Data Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Frequency data from Wordfreq. Misspellings derived from Hunspell dictionaries.