bouillon

/ˈbuː.jɒn/

//ˈbuː.jɒn// noun

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

"bouillon" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“bouillon” is uncommon English (frequency #50,398 among 4,121 “B” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#50,398
frequency rank, English
4,121
“B” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A clear seasoned broth made by simmering usually light meat, such as beef or chicken.

Corpus desk

Index EN-bouillon · bouillon · English

bouillon · rank #50,398 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #50,398
  • LEN-LONG 8 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,121
  • PHOTO-FINISH bosque

Nearest frequency peer: bosque (-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 “bouillon”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

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

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for bouillon
PropertyValue
Headwordbouillon
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈbuː.jɒn/
Letters8
Frequency rank#50,398
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “bouillon” in English

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).bouillonfalls 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: “bosque” (#50,397), “Bourdain” (#50,399), “borehole” (#50,396). Among 4,121 “B” headwords, “bouillon” is #50,398. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

bouillon is uncommon English at frequency #50,398 among 4,121 “B” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈbuː.jɒn/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.

No generated misspelling entries exist for bouillon in our index, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.

Etymologically, the entry records: First attested 1656, from French bouillon, from the verb bouillir (“to boil”), from Old French boillir, from Latin bullīre (“to bubble, boil”), from bulla (“bubble”). The correct English form is bouillon, spelled B-O-U-I-L-L-O-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    A clear seasoned broth made by simmering usually light meat, such as beef or chicken.
  2. 2
    A clear seasoned broth made by simmering usually light meat, such as beef or chicken.
  3. 3
    An excrescence on a horse's frush or frog.

Etymology

First attested 1656, from French bouillon, from the verb bouillir (“to boil”), from Old French boillir, from Latin bullīre (“to bubble, boil”), from bulla (“bubble”).

This word in other languages

caldo(Español)bouillon(Français)Bouillon(Deutsch)caldo(Português)

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 "bouillon"?
"bouillon" is spelled B-O-U-I-L-L-O-N. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈbuː.jɒn/.
What does "bouillon" mean?
As a noun, "bouillon" means: A clear seasoned broth made by simmering usually light meat, such as beef or chicken.
How do you pronounce "bouillon"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "bouillon" is /ˈbuː.jɒn/. 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 "bouillon"?
First attested 1656, from French bouillon, from the verb bouillir (“to boil”), from Old French boillir, from Latin bullīre (“to bubble, boil”), from bulla (“bubble”). 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 "bouillon", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 8 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Bourdain#50,399borehole#50,396Brockton#50,403blotting#50,392

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list