Provençal

/ˌpɹɒvɑːnˈsɑːl/

//ˌpɹɒvɑːnˈsɑːl// adj

"provencal" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“Provençal” is uncommon English (frequency #81,724 among 4,417 “P” headwords), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#81,724
frequency rank, English
4,417
“P” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Of, from or relating to Provence, a traditional geographic region roughly corresponding to the modern administrative region of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, France.

Corpus desk

Index EN-provencal · Provençal · English

Provençal · rank #81,724 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #81,724
  • LEN-LONG 9 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,417
  • PHOTO-FINISH Prudhomme

Nearest frequency peer: Prudhomme (+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 “Provençal”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

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

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for Provençal
PropertyValue
HeadwordProvençal
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdjective
IPA/ˌpɹɒvɑːnˈsɑːl/
Letters9
Frequency rank#81,724
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “Provençal” 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).Provençalfalls 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: “Prudhomme” (#81,725), “publique” (#81,726), “PRM” (#81,720). Among 4,417 “P” headwords, “Provençal” is #81,724. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

Provençal is uncommon English at frequency #81,724 among 4,417 “P” headwords, classed as anadjective, transcribed /ˌpɹɒvɑːnˈsɑːl/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Of, from or relating to Provence, a traditional geographic region roughly corresponding to the modern administrative region of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, France.".

Provençal doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English [Term?], from Middle French provenceal, provençal, from Latin prōvinciālis. The correct English form is Provençal, spelled P-R-O-V-E-N-Ç-A-L.

Definition

  1. 1
    Of, from or relating to Provence, a traditional geographic region roughly corresponding to the modern administrative region of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, France.

Etymology

From Middle English [Term?], from Middle French provenceal, provençal, from Latin prōvinciālis.

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 "Provençal"?
"Provençal" is spelled P-R-O-V-E-N-Ç-A-L. The IPA pronunciation is /ˌpɹɒvɑːnˈsɑːl/.
What does "Provençal" mean?
As an adjective, "Provençal" means: Of, from or relating to Provence, a traditional geographic region roughly corresponding to the modern administrative region of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, France.
How do you pronounce "Provençal"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "Provençal" is /ˌpɹɒvɑːnˈsɑːl/. 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 "Provençal"?
From Middle English [Term?], from Middle French provenceal, provençal, from Latin prōvinciālis. 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 "Provençal", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 9 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list