gratin

/ɡɹəˈtæn/

//ɡɹəˈtæn// noun

"gratin" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“gratin” is uncommon English (frequency #66,693 among 2,313 “G” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#66,693
frequency rank, English
2,313
“G” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - The top crust of a dish, consisting of breadcrumbs or grated cheese heated under a grill; the dish itself.

Corpus desk

Index EN-gratin · gratin · English

gratin · rank #66,693 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #66,693
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,313
  • PHOTO-FINISH granule

Nearest frequency peer: granule (-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 “gratin”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

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

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for gratin
PropertyValue
Headwordgratin
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ɡɹəˈtæn/
Letters6
Frequency rank#66,693
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “gratin” in English

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).gratinfalls 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: “granule” (#66,692), “gravesite” (#66,694), “GPC” (#66,691). Among 2,313 “G” headwords, “gratin” is #66,693. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

gratin is uncommon English at frequency #66,693 among 2,313 “G” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ɡɹəˈtæn/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "The top crust of a dish, consisting of breadcrumbs or grated cheese heated under a grill; the dish itself.".

Zero misspellings are on record for gratin in our index, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.

Etymologically, the entry records: Borrowed from French gratin. The correct English form is gratin, spelled G-R-A-T-I-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    The top crust of a dish, consisting of breadcrumbs or grated cheese heated under a grill; the dish itself.

Etymology

Borrowed from French gratin.

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 "gratin"?
"gratin" is spelled G-R-A-T-I-N. The IPA pronunciation is /ɡɹəˈtæn/.
What does "gratin" mean?
As a noun, "gratin" means: The top crust of a dish, consisting of breadcrumbs or grated cheese heated under a grill; the dish itself.
How do you pronounce "gratin"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "gratin" is /ɡɹəˈtæn/. 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 "gratin"?
Borrowed from French gratin. 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 "gratin", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list