aïeule

\a.jœl\

/\a.jœl\/ noun

The verdict

“aïeule” is uncommon French (frequency #71,265 among 6,727 “A” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#71,265
frequency rank, French
6,727
“A” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Grand-mère.

Corpus desk

Index FR-aieule · aïeule · French

aïeule · rank #71,265 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #71,265
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-5 5 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 6,727
  • PHOTO-FINISH avit

Nearest frequency peer: avit (-1 rank slots)

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.

Rangs de longue queue près de « aïeule »

Bande clairsemée: les barres inversent le rang pour que le rare se lise plus court

corpus weight

What this shows Vue de longue queue: où « aïeule » se situe face à des rangs français aussi rares.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for aïeule
PropertyValue
Headwordaïeule
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\a.jœl\
Letters6
Frequency rank#71,265
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Longue queue: rang de « aïeule » en français

Cette échelle va du noyau du français courant (gauche) jusqu'à la traîne des formes rares (droite).aïeuletombe dans cette queue de rareté:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Les tics avancent en logarithme; chacun est de l'ordre de dix fois plus rare. Voisins rares de la même bande: « avit » (#71,264), « Baader » (#71,266), « avertisseurs » (#71,263). Parmi 6,727 lemmes en « A », « aïeule » est au #71,265. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

aïeule is uncommon French at frequency #71,265 among 6,727 “A” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed \a.jœl\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Grand-mère.".

aïeule doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.

This headword's origin isn't recorded in our source data, leaving phoneme-to-grapheme mapping as the best guide to its spelling rather than a borrowing history. The correct French form is aïeule, spelled A-Ï-E-U-L-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Grand-mère.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how aïeule appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Je ne bouge donc point, je me rensommeille, seulement voilà les crac-crac qui recommencent dans la souillarde, je veux me réveiller, j’arrive point à me réveiller et une voix tout-doux-tout-doux, mais mais si claire que je reconnais feu mon aïeule, donc une voix me fait : « Eustolia, où tu habites, à présent, Eustolia ? Déménage, ma fille, à Sosnovka. »
  2. Ô femmes ! aujourd’hui que je suis vieille et seule, Que l’angoisse a brisé mon cœur, courbé mon dos, Je ne verrai jamais la moelle de mes os, Mes petits-fils sourire à leur mourante aïeule !

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); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 French corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "aïeule"?
"aïeule" is spelled A-Ï-E-U-L-E. The IPA pronunciation is \a.jœl\.
What does "aïeule" mean?
As a noun, "aïeule" means: Grand-mère.
How do you pronounce "aïeule"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "aïeule" is \a.jœl\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "aïeule" come from?
"aïeule" is a French word. PlainSpell covers definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar French words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "aïeule", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked French headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list