poutine

/puːˈtiːn/

//puːˈtiːn// noun

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

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

The verdict

“poutine” is uncommon English (frequency #53,176 among 4,417 “P” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#53,176
frequency rank, English
4,417
“P” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A dish consisting of French fries topped with cheese curds and gravy, eaten primarily in Canada.

Corpus desk

Index EN-poutine · poutine · English

poutine · rank #53,176 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #53,176
  • LEN-LONG 7 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,417
  • PHOTO-FINISH postmenopausal

Nearest frequency peer: postmenopausal (-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 “poutine”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

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

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for poutine
PropertyValue
Headwordpoutine
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/puːˈtiːn/
Letters7
Frequency rank#53,176
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “poutine” in English

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).poutinefalls in this rarity band:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Rare peers in the same band: “postmenopausal” (#53,175), “Praeger” (#53,177), “poopy” (#53,173). Among 4,417 “P” headwords, “poutine” is #53,176. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

poutine is uncommon English at frequency #53,176 among 4,417 “P” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /puːˈtiːn/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for poutine, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. This headword has no recorded confusable partner, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.

Etymologically, the entry records: Borrowed from Canadian French poutine (“French fries with cheese curds and gravy; any of various kinds of pudding”); further etymology uncertain, possibly either: * a variant of French pouding (“pudding”), borrowed from English pudding (possibly ultimately … The correct English form is poutine, spelled P-O-U-T-I-N-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    A dish consisting of French fries topped with cheese curds and gravy, eaten primarily in Canada.
  2. 2
    Chiefly with a qualifying word: any of a number of variations on the basic poutine dish.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Jean made an eight-hour trip across the border into Quebec just to satisfy his craving for poutine.
  2. In Italian poutine, gravy is replaced with spaghetti sauce.

Etymology

Borrowed from Canadian French poutine (“French fries with cheese curds and gravy; any of various kinds of pudding”); further etymology uncertain, possibly either: * a variant of French pouding (“pudding”), borrowed from English pudding (possibly ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰew- (“to swell”)); or * from a dialectal French word influenced by French pouding or English pudding, though this word has not been identified. The Canadian French word is generally thought to have been coined by the Canadian restaurateur Fernand Lachance (1918–2004) as a name for the dish which is said to have been first served at his restaurant Lutin Qui Rit in Warwick, Quebec, in 1957.

This word in other languages

poutine(Français)Poutine(Deutsch)

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 "poutine"?
"poutine" is spelled P-O-U-T-I-N-E. The IPA pronunciation is /puːˈtiːn/.
What does "poutine" mean?
As a noun, "poutine" means: A dish consisting of French fries topped with cheese curds and gravy, eaten primarily in Canada.
How do you pronounce "poutine"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "poutine" is /puːˈtiːn/. 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 "poutine"?
Borrowed from Canadian French poutine (“French fries with cheese curds and gravy; any of various kinds of pudding”); further etymology uncertain, possibly either: * a variant of French pouding (“pudding”), borrowed from English pudding (possibly u... 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 "poutine", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

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

Praeger#53,177preform#53,179Poirier#53,172peridot#53,161

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list