battue
/bəˈt(j)uː/
"battue" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“battue” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 6
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A form of hunting in which game is forced into the open by the beating of sticks on bushes, etc.
Corpus desk
Index EN-battue · battue · English
battue · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-LONG 6 letters
- VOW-3 3 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "B" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
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.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | battue |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /bəˈt(j)uː/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “battue” in English
Rare enough to double-check
battue is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed /bəˈt(j)uː/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.
battue has no tracked misspelling variants, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.
Etymologically, the entry records: From French battue, ultimately from Latin battere. Doublet of battuta, which arrived via Italian. The correct English form is battue, spelled B-A-T-T-U-E.
Definition
- 1A form of hunting in which game is forced into the open by the beating of sticks on bushes, etc.
- 2A hunt performed in this manner.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how battue appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
[page 203] In battue, whenever a hen rises, the signal "ware hen!" is called out by the sportsman or beater who is nearest it: meaning thereby "beware of the hen;" or, literally, "do not shoot the hen pheasant." In most places where game is very strictly preserved, and the rules of sporting firmly adhered to, a fine is imposed on any one who kills a hen p…
In the southern territories of Tuva saiga antelopes were hunted successfully by the battue method, using horse as chasers, and log pens constructed before the hunt. Several dozen animals could be caught in one hunt by this method.
Etymology
From French battue, ultimately from Latin battere. Doublet of battuta, which arrived via Italian.
This word in other languages
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.