faience

/ˈfaɪ.əns/

//ˈfaɪ.əns// noun

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

"faience" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“faience” is uncommon English (frequency #90,434 among 2,507 “F” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#90,434
frequency rank, English
2,507
“F” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A type of tin-glazed earthenware ceramic, used domestically for tableware and in architecture as a decorative material.

Corpus desk

Index EN-faience · faience · English

faience · rank #90,434 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #90,434
  • LEN-LONG 7 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,507
  • PHOTO-FINISH failover

Nearest frequency peer: failover (+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 “faience”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

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

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for faience
PropertyValue
Headwordfaience
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈfaɪ.əns/
Letters7
Frequency rank#90,434
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “faience” in English

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right).faiencefalls 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: “failover” (#90,435), “extraversion” (#90,432), “fanged” (#90,436). Among 2,507 “F” headwords, “faience” is #90,434. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

faience is uncommon English at frequency #90,434 among 2,507 “F” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈfaɪ.əns/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

faience doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable English rules. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.

Etymologically, the entry records: From French faïence, named after the city of Faenza, Italy, where it was made in the 16th century. The correct English form is faience, spelled F-A-I-E-N-C-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    A type of tin-glazed earthenware ceramic, used domestically for tableware and in architecture as a decorative material.
  2. 2
    Beads or small ornaments made from frit, from the eastern Mediterranean of the Bronze and Iron Ages.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. The smile, you see, is perfect—wonderful / As mere Faience! a table ornament / To suit the richest mounting.
  2. If she had wondered what Mrs. Burrage wished so particularly to talk about, she waited some time for the clearing-up of the mystery. During this interval she sat in a remarkably pretty boudoir, where there were flowers and faiences and little French pictures, and watched her hostess revolve round the subject in circles the vagueness of which she tried to…

Etymology

From French faïence, named after the city of Faenza, Italy, where it was made in the 16th century.

This word in other languages

loza(Español)faïence(Français)Fayence(Deutsch)faiança(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 "faience"?
"faience" is spelled F-A-I-E-N-C-E. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈfaɪ.əns/.
What does "faience" mean?
As a noun, "faience" means: A type of tin-glazed earthenware ceramic, used domestically for tableware and in architecture as a decorative material.
How do you pronounce "faience"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "faience" is /ˈfaɪ.əns/. 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 "faience"?
From French faïence, named after the city of Faenza, Italy, where it was made in the 16th century. 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 "faience", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 7 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

forager#90,454forsook#90,455Frannie#90,457enteral#90,410

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list