derailleur
/ˌdəˈɹeɪl.jə/
"derailleur" is a 10-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“derailleur” is uncommon English (frequency #84,159 among 3,470 “D” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #84,159
- frequency rank, English
- 3,470
- “D” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - The mechanism on a bicycle used to move the chain from one sprocket (gear) to another.
Corpus desk
Index EN-derailleur · derailleur · English
derailleur · rank #84,159 · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-RARE #84,159
- LEN-MEGA 10 letters
- VOW-5 5 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-MID 3,470
- PHOTO-FINISH destructively
Nearest frequency peer: destructively (+2 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 “derailleur”
Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter
- Deakins
Deakins
15,847 corpus weight
- debase
debase
15,846 corpus weight
- decoction
decoction
15,845 corpus weight
- derailleur
derailleur
15,842 corpus weight
- destructive…
destructively
15,840 corpus weight
- desultory
desultory
15,839 corpus weight
What this shows Long-tail view: where “derailleur” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | derailleur |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˌdəˈɹeɪl.jə/ |
| Letters | 10 |
| Frequency rank | #84,159 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “derailleur” in English
Rare enough to double-check
derailleur is uncommon English at frequency #84,159 among 3,470 “D” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˌdəˈɹeɪl.jə/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.
derailleur has no tracked misspelling variants, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable English rules. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.
Etymologically, the entry records: Borrowed from French dérailleur. Doublet of derailer. The correct English form is derailleur, spelled D-E-R-A-I-L-L-E-U-R.
Definition
- 1The mechanism on a bicycle used to move the chain from one sprocket (gear) to another.
- 2The entire gearset on a bicycle with such a mechanism.
Recorded use
Wiktionary exampleThese source excerpts show how derailleur appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
The common rear derailleur designs all operate on the same principle. A moveable cage receives the chain returning from the chainwheel and directs it onto one sprocket of the cluster.
Etymology
Borrowed from French dérailleur. Doublet of derailer.
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); 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 "derailleur"?
What does "derailleur" mean?
How do you pronounce "derailleur"?
What is the origin of the word "derailleur"?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "derailleur", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 10 letters (nearest by frequency rank).