rideau
/ɹiˈdəʊ/
"rideau" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“rideau” is uncommon English (frequency #63,202 among 3,094 “R” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #63,202
- frequency rank, English
- 3,094
- “R” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A fortification or barrier such as a small earthen mound or ridge, a file of troops, etc.
Corpus desk
Index EN-rideau · rideau · English
rideau · rank #63,202 · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-RARE #63,202
- LEN-LONG 6 letters
- VOW-4 4 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-MID 3,094
- PHOTO-FINISH ringling
Nearest frequency peer: ringling (+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 “rideau”
Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter
- resveratrol
resveratrol
36,804 corpus weight
- retrovirus
retrovirus
36,803 corpus weight
- rideau
rideau
36,799 corpus weight
- ringling
ringling
36,798 corpus weight
- roadtrip
roadtrip
36,795 corpus weight
- rocher
rocher
36,794 corpus weight
What this shows Long-tail view: where “rideau” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | rideau |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ɹiˈdəʊ/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #63,202 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “rideau” in English
Rare enough to double-check
rideau is uncommon English at frequency #63,202 among 3,094 “R” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ɹiˈdəʊ/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "A fortification or barrier such as a small earthen mound or ridge, a file of troops, etc.".
Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for rideau, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.
Etymologically, the entry records: Borrowed from French rideau (“curtain”), from Middle French rideau, from Old French ridel (“plaited stuff; cloth curtain; blind”), from rider (“to plait; to wrinkle”), perhaps from Old High German ridil (“a headband; a ribbon”) or rīdan, wrīdan (“to wrinkle… The correct English form is rideau, spelled R-I-D-E-A-U.
Definition
- 1A fortification or barrier such as a small earthen mound or ridge, a file of troops, etc.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how rideau appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
A judgment may be formed of the weakness of the place, either by the facility found in making the approaches, or by establishing the magazines in the rear of the trenches, taking advantage of some rideau, or hollow way, whereby the right and left of the trenches are better supported. In order to judge of the facility of making the approaches, observe whet…
Rideau. A small rising ground or eminence, commanding a plain, which is sometimes near parallel to the works of a place. It is a great disadvantage to have Rideaus near a fortification, especially when they shoot from far, and terminate on counterscarp; for they not only command the place, but likewise facilitate the enemy's approaches.
Etymology
Borrowed from French rideau (“curtain”), from Middle French rideau, from Old French ridel (“plaited stuff; cloth curtain; blind”), from rider (“to plait; to wrinkle”), perhaps from Old High German ridil (“a headband; a ribbon”) or rīdan, wrīdan (“to wrinkle”) (related to English writhe), from Proto-Germanic *wriþilaz, from *wrīþaną (“to twist, wind, wrap”). See more at riddle (“curtain”), writhe.
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
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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "rideau", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).