seigneur
/sɛˈnjɜ/
"seigneur" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“seigneur” is uncommon English (frequency #70,244 among 6,566 “S” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #70,244
- frequency rank, English
- 6,566
- “S” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A feudal lord or noble in French contexts.
Corpus desk
Index EN-seigneur · seigneur · English
seigneur · rank #70,244 · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-RARE #70,244
- LEN-LONG 8 letters
- VOW-4 4 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-DENSE 6,566
- PHOTO-FINISH Serkis
Nearest frequency peer: Serkis (+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.
Frequency neighbourhood for “seigneur”
Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)
- schelling
schelling
29,762 corpus weight
- Schur
Schur
29,760 corpus weight
- seigneur
seigneur
29,757 corpus weight
- Serkis
Serkis
29,756 corpus weight
- shambolic
shambolic
29,753 corpus weight
- Sheehy
Sheehy
29,751 corpus weight
What this shows Bars show where “seigneur” sits against the nearest ranked English headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | seigneur |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /sɛˈnjɜ/ |
| Letters | 8 |
| Frequency rank | #70,244 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “seigneur” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
seigneur is uncommon English at frequency #70,244 among 6,566 “S” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /sɛˈnjɜ/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 4 senses are on record.
No generated misspelling entries exist for seigneur in our index, a sign its spelling follows regular English conventions. No confusable counterpart is on file for this word, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.
Etymologically, the entry records: Borrowed from Middle French seigneur, from Old French seignor. Doublet of seignior, senhor, senior, señor, senyor, signore, sir, and sire. The correct English form is seigneur, spelled S-E-I-G-N-E-U-R.
Definition
- 1A feudal lord or noble in French contexts.
- 2The hereditary feudal ruler of Sark.
- 3A landowner in Canada; the holder of a seigneurie.
- 4A hereditary title in the Bailiwick of Jersey.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how seigneur appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
"Then you're not - " "Darling," I said, "do you really see me in the position of a seigneur, driving my serfs and villeins before me with a whip - even if the triffids haven't overrun me first?"
There was less and less love lost between peasants and seigneurs. The services which the latter had provided for the peasant community in the past had diminished in value.
Etymology
Borrowed from Middle French seigneur, from Old French seignor. Doublet of seignior, senhor, senior, señor, senyor, signore, sir, and sire.
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.
PlainSpell is rendered directly from structured Wiktionary extracts and open word-frequency lists, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of September 3, 2026. Primary sources: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) and FrequencyWords.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "seigneur", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 8 letters (nearest by frequency rank).
What to do next
You've looked up "seigneur". Here's where to go from here.
- Usage frequency rank #70,244 among English headwords in this corpus. Corpus statistics
- Browse more English words in the "S" letter cohort. S–Z browse
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PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.
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.