Saussure
/səʊˈsjʊə/
"saussure" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“Saussure” is uncommon English (frequency #69,416 among 54,294 “S” headwords), classed as a proper noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #69,416
- frequency rank, English
- 54,294
- “S” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A surname from French.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | Saussure |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Proper noun |
| IPA | /səʊˈsjʊə/ |
| Letters | 8 |
| Frequency rank | #69,416 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “Saussure” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
Saussure is uncommon English at frequency #69,416 among 54,294 “S” headwords, classed as aproper noun, transcribed /səʊˈsjʊə/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "A surname from French.".
We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for Saussure, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.
Etymologically, the entry records: From the French surname of Norman origin, from Saussay, Eure-et-Loir, in France. This placename is from Medieval Latin Salcetum, from earlier Salictum, from earlier Salcidum, a suffixed form of Latin salix (“willow”), common in placenames. The correct English form is Saussure, spelled S-A-U-S-S-U-R-E.
Definition
- 1A surname from French.
Etymology
From the French surname of Norman origin, from Saussay, Eure-et-Loir, in France. This placename is from Medieval Latin Salcetum, from earlier Salictum, from earlier Salcidum, a suffixed form of Latin salix (“willow”), common in placenames.
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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Using “Saussure”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is S-A-U-S-S-U-R-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /səʊˈsjʊə/ (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.