ratatouille
/ɹæt.əˈtuː.i/noun, verb
ratatouille is spelled R-A-T-A-T-O-U-I-L-L-E: 11 letters and 3 syllables. It appears about once in every 3 million words in written English, the 51,738th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, ratatouille means “A traditional French Provençal stewed vegetable dish consisting primarily of tomatoes, zucchini and eggplant” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of ratatouille is ratatouilles.
How many letters and syllables are in ratatouille?
| Letters | 11: R-A-T-A-T-O-U-I-L-L-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 3 million words; the 51,738th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is ratatouille?
Ratatouille appears about once in every 3 million words in written English, the 51,738th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce ratatouille?
- /ɹæt.əˈtuː.i/
- /ɹæt.əˈtwiː/
Ratatouille has 3 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-ratatouille.oga, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of ratatouille
- ratatouilles plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- ratatouilling participle, present
- ratatouilled participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does ratatouille mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A traditional French Provençal stewed vegetable dish consisting primarily of tomatoes, zucchini and eggplant.
verb
- 1
To control someone as though they were a puppet.
You know that worm in R.F.K. Junior's brain that we all assume has been ratatouilling him around this whole time?
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Ratatouille in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense traditional French Provençal stewed vegetable dish:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | ratatouille |
| German | Ratatouille |
| Spanish | pisto |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does ratatouille come from?
Unadapted borrowing from French ratatouille, from Occitan ratatolha (ratatouille is a dish originally from Nice, and is also found in Provence), French form from diminutive prefix tat- + touiller (“to stir”), from Latin tudiculō (“grind, mix”), from tudes (“hammer”), from Proto-Indo-European *tud-, from *(s)tewd-.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).