Repertoire

How to spell repertoire

10 letters · 3 syllables

109 of the 261 people asked to spell repertoire in Spelling Garden got it wrong the first time.

The most common mistake is repetoire. The letters people get wrong are highlighted.

repetoire repertoire

What people typed instead

• repetoire42 people
• repertoir19 people
• repetoir11 people
• reportoire5 people
• repitoire4 people
• repotoire3 people

How to pronounce repertoire

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does repertoire mean?

1. nounThe full range of works, skills, or behaviours that a person or group is able to perform or use.

Repertoire in a sentence

• The pianist added three new concertos to her repertoire this season.

• A good negotiator keeps a wide repertoire of tactics for difficult meetings.

Where does repertoire come from?

Language of origin: French

This word came straight from the French répertoire, which English borrowed in the early 1800s to describe the stock of pieces a performer or company was ready to present. The French word descends from the Late Latin repertorium, meaning an inventory or catalogue, a kind of list of things kept on hand. That noun in turn was built on the Latin verb reperire, meaning 'to find' or 'to discover', formed from re- and the root that gives us parire 'to bring forth' or 'to obtain'. So at its heart a repertoire is literally a collection of things one has found and can readily produce. The same Latin family lies behind 'repertory', the more English-looking theatre term, and the French spelling is exactly why the ending lands as the tricky, near-silent 'twahr' rather than anything you would guess from English habits.

How the word is built

• reper- (from Latin reperire: to find, discover)
• -toire (French noun suffix, from Latin -torium: a place or store for)

People who misspell repertoire also struggle with

Of the Spelling Garden players who got repertoire wrong the first time, this is how many also got each of these wrong.

• ordnance 91% of them got it wrong
• idiosyncrasy 81% of them got it wrong
• connoisseur 75% of them got it wrong
• butte 75% of them got it wrong
• supersede 73% of them got it wrong
• manoeuvre 72% of them got it wrong