à cheval
\a ʃə.val\
The verdict
“à cheval” is uncommon French (outside the top frequency list), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency French
- 8
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Assis sur un cheval.
Corpus desk
Index FR-a-cheval · à cheval · French
à cheval · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-LONG 8 letters
- VOW-3 3 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "À" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
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.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | à cheval |
| Language | French |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | \a ʃə.val\ |
| Letters | 8 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Longue queue: rang de « à cheval » en français
Rare enough to double-check
à cheval is uncommon French outside the top frequency list, classed as anadjective, transcribed \a ʃə.val\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 4 senses are on record.
Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for à cheval, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.
This entry's etymology isn't recorded, so its spelling is easiest to reason about phoneme by phoneme, absent a documented history. The correct French form is à cheval, spelled À- -C-H-E-V-A-L.
Definition
- 1Assis sur un cheval.
- 2Comme assis sur un cheval, une jambe de chaque côté.
- 3De part et d’autre.
- 4Exigeant, pointilleux.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how à cheval appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Ceux des montagnards qui obéirent à l’appel du chef austrasien vinrent au rendez-vous, les uns à pied, les autres à cheval, avec leur armement habituel, […].
Elle descend de la montagne à cheval.
Synonyms
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). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.