blanch

/blɑːnt͡ʃ/

//blɑːnt͡ʃ// verb

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

"blanch" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“blanch” is uncommon English (frequency #50,389 among 4,121 “B” headwords), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#50,389
frequency rank, English
4,121
“B” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - To grow or become white.

Corpus desk

Index EN-blanch · blanch · English

blanch · rank #50,389 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #50,389
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-1 1 vowel
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,121
  • PHOTO-FINISH biomechanics

Nearest frequency peer: biomechanics (-1 rank slots)

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.

Long-tail ranks near “blanch”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

What this shows Long-tail view: where “blanch” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for blanch
PropertyValue
Headwordblanch
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechVerb
IPA/blɑːnt͡ʃ/
Letters6
Frequency rank#50,389
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “blanch” in English

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right).blanchfalls in this rarity band:

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

Ticks step logarithmically, so each one marks a roughly tenfold drop in how often the word turns up. Rare peers in the same band: “biomechanics” (#50,388), “blindside” (#50,390), “Bibby” (#50,386). Among 4,121 “B” headwords, “blanch” is #50,389. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

blanch is uncommon English at frequency #50,389 among 4,121 “B” headwords, classed as averb, transcribed /blɑːnt͡ʃ/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 9 senses are on record.

blanch doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English blaunchen, from Old French blanchir, from Old French blanc (“white”), from Early Medieval Latin blancus, from Frankish *blank, from Proto-Germanic *blankaz (“bright, shining, blinding, white”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰleyǵ- (“to shin… The correct English form is blanch, spelled B-L-A-N-C-H.

Definition

  1. 1
    To grow or become white.
  2. 2
    To take the color out of, and make white; to bleach.
  3. 3
    To cook by dipping briefly into boiling water, then directly into cold water.
  4. 4
    To whiten, for example the surface of meat, by plunging into boiling water and afterwards into cold, so as to harden the surface and retain the juices.
  5. 5
    To bleach by excluding light, for example the stalks or leaves of plants by earthing them up or tying them together.
  6. 6
    To make white by removing the skin of, for example by scalding.
  7. 7
    To give a white lustre to (silver, before stamping, in the process of coining)
  8. 8
    To cover (sheet iron) with a coating of tin.
  9. 9
    To give a favorable appearance to; to whitewash; to whiten;

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. His cheek blanched with fear.
  2. The rose blanches in the sun.

Etymology

From Middle English blaunchen, from Old French blanchir, from Old French blanc (“white”), from Early Medieval Latin blancus, from Frankish *blank, from Proto-Germanic *blankaz (“bright, shining, blinding, white”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰleyǵ- (“to shine”). Cognates Cognate with blench (“to deceive, to trick”) through Proto-Indo-European, whence other etymology of blanch.

This word in other languages

palidecer(Español)blanchir(Français)erbleichen(Deutsch)

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 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "blanch"?
"blanch" is spelled B-L-A-N-C-H. The IPA pronunciation is /blɑːnt͡ʃ/.
What does "blanch" mean?
As a verb, "blanch" means: To grow or become white.
How do you pronounce "blanch"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "blanch" is /blɑːnt͡ʃ/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "blanch"?
From Middle English blaunchen, from Old French blanchir, from Old French blanc (“white”), from Early Medieval Latin blancus, from Frankish *blank, from Proto-Germanic *blankaz (“bright, shining, blinding, white”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰleyǵ-... See the full etymology section above for more details.
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 English words by spelling shape

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

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

befell#50,381bosque#50,397ballsy#50,370burnie#50,408

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list