legionnaire

Name: legionnaire, English Word Data
Creator: Wiktionary
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

/ˌliːdʒəˈnɛə(ɹ)/

//ˌliːdʒəˈnɛə(ɹ)// noun

By PlainSpell · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) · analyzed May 6, 2026

The verdict

“legionnaire” is uncommon English (frequency #76,941 among 16,425 “L” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#76,941
frequency rank, English: 16,425
“L” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A person who is neither a citizen nor colonial/imperial subject of the state whose military they join.

Key facts for legionnaire
Property	Value
Headword	legionnaire
Language	English
Part of speech	Noun
IPA	/ˌliːdʒəˈnɛə(ɹ)/
Letters	11
Frequency rank	#76,941
Misspellings tracked	0
Confusable pairs	0
Source	Wiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “legionnaire” sits in English frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). legionnaire lands here:

#76,941

#1#100#1K#10K#100K

← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

legionnaire is uncommon English at frequency #76,941 among 16,425 “L” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˌliːdʒəˈnɛə(ɹ)/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

No generated misspelling entries exist for legionnaire in our index, a sign its spelling follows regular English conventions. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.

Etymologically, the entry records: Borrowed from French légionnaire. Doublet of legionary. The correct English form is legionnaire, spelled L-E-G-I-O-N-N-A-I-R-E.

Definition

1
A person who is neither a citizen nor colonial/imperial subject of the state whose military they join.
2
A member of a legion, especially the French Foreign Legion.

Etymology

Borrowed from French légionnaire. Doublet of legionary.

Synonyms

legionary

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 "legionnaire"?

"legionnaire" is spelled L-E-G-I-O-N-N-A-I-R-E. The IPA pronunciation is /ˌliːdʒəˈnɛə(ɹ)/.

What does "legionnaire" mean?

As a noun, "legionnaire" means: A person who is neither a citizen nor colonial/imperial subject of the state whose military they join.

How do you pronounce "legionnaire"?

The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "legionnaire" is /ˌliːdʒəˈnɛə(ɹ)/. 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 "legionnaire"?

Borrowed from French légionnaire. Doublet of legionary. 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.

Using “legionnaire”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

The one correct English spelling is L-E-G-I-O-N-N-A-I-R-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
Say it as /ˌliːdʒəˈnɛə(ɹ)/ (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.