chine

/t͡ʃaɪn/

//t͡ʃaɪn// noun

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

"chine" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“chine” is uncommon English (frequency #51,609 among 5,599 “C” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#51,609
frequency rank, English
5,599
“C” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - The top of a ridge.

Corpus desk

Index EN-chine · chine · English

chine · rank #51,609 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #51,609
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 5,599
  • PHOTO-FINISH chequered

Nearest frequency peer: chequered (-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 “chine”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

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

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for chine
PropertyValue
Headwordchine
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/t͡ʃaɪn/
Letters5
Frequency rank#51,609
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “chine” in English

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).chinefalls in this rarity band:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Rare peers in the same band: “chequered” (#51,608), “choosy” (#51,610), “Ceredigion” (#51,605). Among 5,599 “C” headwords, “chine” is #51,609. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

chine is uncommon English at frequency #51,609 among 5,599 “C” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /t͡ʃaɪn/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 8 senses are on record.

Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for chine, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English chyne, from Old French eschine, from Frankish *skinu, from Proto-Germanic *skinō. Doublet of shin. The correct English form is chine, spelled C-H-I-N-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    The top of a ridge.
  2. 2
    The spine of an animal.
  3. 3
    A piece of the backbone of an animal, with the adjoining parts, cut for cooking.
  4. 4
    A sharp angle in the cross section of a hull.
  5. 5
    A longitudinal line of sharp change in the cross-section profile of the fuselage or similar body.
  6. 6
    A hollowed or bevelled channel in the waterway of a ship's deck.
  7. 7
    The edge or rim of a cask, etc., formed by the projecting ends of the staves; the chamfered end of a stave.
  8. 8
    The back of the blade on a scythe.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. And chine with rising bristles roughly spread.
  2. […] the captain aimed at the fugitive one last tremendous cut, which would certainly have split him to the chine had it not been intercepted by our big signboard […]

Etymology

From Middle English chyne, from Old French eschine, from Frankish *skinu, from Proto-Germanic *skinō. Doublet of shin.

This word in other languages

Kimm(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 "chine"?
"chine" is spelled C-H-I-N-E. The IPA pronunciation is /t͡ʃaɪn/.
What does "chine" mean?
As a noun, "chine" means: The top of a ridge.
How do you pronounce "chine"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "chine" is /t͡ʃaɪn/. 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 "chine"?
From Middle English chyne, from Old French eschine, from Frankish *skinu, from Proto-Germanic *skinō. Doublet of shin. 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 "chine", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

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

coons#51,630bruin#51,587crags#51,634creak#51,636

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list