dulce de leche

/ˌdulseɪ də ˈlɛtʃeɪ/

//ˌdulseɪ də ˈlɛtʃeɪ// noun

"dulce-de-leche" is a 12-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“dulce de leche” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency English
14
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A South American sweet spread made from sugar and boiled milk.

Corpus desk

Index EN-dulce-de-leche · dulce de leche · English

dulce de leche · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-MEGA 14 letters
  • VOW-5 5 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "D" thin
  • PHOTO-UNK Peer pending

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.

Key facts for dulce de leche
PropertyValue
Headworddulce de leche
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˌdulseɪ də ˈlɛtʃeɪ/
Letters14
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “dulce de leche” in English

dulce de lechefalls outside the top-100,000 ranked English words, the long-tail zone of technical, archaic, or low-frequency vocabulary, exactly where readers second-guess spellings most.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

dulce de leche is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˌdulseɪ də ˈlɛtʃeɪ/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "A South American sweet spread made from sugar and boiled milk.".

dulce de leche has no tracked misspelling variants, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.

Etymologically, the entry records: Unadapted borrowing from Spanish dulce de leche (literally “sweet [made] of milk”). Compare dolcelatte. The correct English form is dulce de leche, spelled D-U-L-C-E- -D-E- -L-E-C-H-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    A South American sweet spread made from sugar and boiled milk.

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

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

  1. Unlike dulce de leche, in which milk is cooked down with sugar until it thickens into gold, the milk stays white here — burfi comes from the Persian word for snow — for a purer flavor.

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from Spanish dulce de leche (literally “sweet [made] of milk”). Compare dolcelatte.

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). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "dulce de leche"?
"dulce de leche" is spelled D-U-L-C-E- -D-E- -L-E-C-H-E. The IPA pronunciation is /ˌdulseɪ də ˈlɛtʃeɪ/.
What does "dulce de leche" mean?
As a noun, "dulce de leche" means: A South American sweet spread made from sugar and boiled milk.
How do you pronounce "dulce de leche"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "dulce de leche" is /ˌdulseɪ də ˈlɛtʃeɪ/. 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 "dulce de leche"?
Unadapted borrowing from Spanish dulce de leche (literally “sweet [made] of milk”). Compare dolcelatte. 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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list