zeste

\zɛst\

/\zɛst\/ noun

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

The verdict

“zeste” has 7 generated spelling variants in the French index at frequency #36,665. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#36,665
frequency rank, French
240
“Z” headwords
7
tracked misspellings
4
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Partie mince et colorée qu’on coupe sur le dessus de l’écorce des agrumes (orange, citron, cédrat, etc…).

Corpus desk

Index FR-zeste · zeste · French

zeste · rank #36,665 · 7 variants · 4 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #36,665
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-MID 4 pairs
  • VAR-MID 7 variants
  • BOOK-MID 240
  • PHOTO-FINISH YPG

Nearest frequency peer: YPG (-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 « zeste »

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

corpus weight

What this shows « zeste » 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).

zeste vs zee
60% similar
zeste vs zèle
40% similar
zeste vs Zeit
40% similar

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

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

Fréquence de l'aimant d'erreurs « zeste »

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

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

Les tics avancent en logarithme; chacun est de l'ordre de dix fois plus rare. Dans la même bande de rareté figurent « YPG » (#36,664), « zélandaise » (#36,666), « ébloui » (#36,667). Parmi 240 lemmes en « Z », « zeste » est au #36,665. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 7 spelling variants around zeste (IPA \zɛst\), anoun. Corpus frequency is #36,665 among 240 “Z” headwords. Wiktionary lists 3 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 7 likely wrong-spelling variants for zeste, with forms such as "ezste", "zeset", and "zesste". 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 4 confusable-pair relationships, "zee", "zèle", "Zeit", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

This entry's etymology isn't recorded, so its spelling is best explained by sound-to-letter mapping rather than etymology. The correct French form is zeste, spelled Z-E-S-T-E.

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.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Chébran, le tiramisu végan de Nabil Barina, champion du monde du tiramisu sacré à Lyon, avec son Verde à la crème végétale, compotée de pommes cuites en deux façons, pétales de main de Bouddha, zeste de citron vert et café vert !
  2. Dans un grand bol ou un saladier, mélangez la passata de tomates avec l’huile d’olive, une 1/2 c. à café de sel de mer, l’ail haché, le piment, les lentilles égouttées, la courge râpée, les olives hachées, les câpres et le zeste de citron.

Synonyms

pelurepincéechouïa

This word in other languages

peel(English)cáscara(Español)Würze(Deutsch)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • ezste
  • zeset
  • zesste
  • zestte
  • zetse
  • zsete
  • zzeste

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

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

ezste2zeset2zesste1zestte1zetse2zsete2zzeste1
Edit distance from "zeste"

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 "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. 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.

Similar French words by spelling shape

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

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked French headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Weill#36,658voles#36,652tôles#36,633téton#36,632

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (7 here; floor ≥5).

agréée7 variantstimor7 variantsTarek7 variantsStasi7 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list