crèche
/kɹɛʃ/
"creche" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“crèche” is uncommon English (frequency #86,182 among 43,570 “C” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #86,182
- frequency rank, English
- 43,570
- “C” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A representation of the nativity scene.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | crèche |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /kɹɛʃ/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #86,182 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “crèche” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
crèche is uncommon English at frequency #86,182 among 43,570 “C” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /kɹɛʃ/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 4 senses are on record.
Zero misspellings are on record for crèche in our index, suggesting the orthography follows predictable English patterns. This headword has no recorded confusable partner, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.
Etymologically, the entry records: Unadapted borrowing from French crèche (“manger”), from Frankish *krippija, *kribbija, from Proto-Germanic *kribjǭ. Doublet of crib. Daycare meaning comes from recent use in France French (whereas in Canadian French garderie is used instead). The correct English form is crèche, spelled C-R-È-C-H-E.
Definition
- 1A representation of the nativity scene.
- 2A day nursery.
- 3A hospital for orphaned infants; a foundling hospital.
- 4A group of young who stay together for protection.
Etymology
Unadapted borrowing from French crèche (“manger”), from Frankish *krippija, *kribbija, from Proto-Germanic *kribjǭ. Doublet of crib. Daycare meaning comes from recent use in France French (whereas in Canadian French garderie is used instead).
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
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Using “crèche”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is C-R-È-C-H-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /kɹɛʃ/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Other uncommon English words near this rank
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.