aiguille

\e.ɡɥij\

/\e.ɡɥij\/ noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

The verdict

“aiguille” is a regularly-used French word, ranked #7,929 in French word frequency and used as a noun.

#7,929
frequency rank, French
8
letters
8
tracked misspellings
6
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Petite tige de métal fine, pointue à un bout et équipée d’un trou appelé chas à l’autre bout pour y passer un fil. Elle est utilisée pour coudre, pour broder, pour faire de la tapisserie, etc.

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

aiguille vs anguille
88% similar
aiguille vs aiguilles
89% similar
aiguille vs aiguillon
78% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for aiguille
PropertyValue
Headwordaiguille
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\e.ɡɥij\
Letters8
Frequency rank#7,929
Misspellings tracked8
Confusable pairs6
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “aiguille” sits in French frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). aiguille lands here:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The French entry for aiguille is 8 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as \e.ɡɥij\. Corpus data places it at rank #7,929 in overall French word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 19 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our generated misspelling index lists 8 likely wrong-spelling variants for aiguille, with forms such as "agiuille", "aigguille", and "aigiulle". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 6 confusable-pair relationships, "anguille", "aiguilles", "aiguillon", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

No borrowing history is documented for this entry, so its spelling is best read as a straightforward mapping from sound to letter. The correct French form is aiguille, spelled A-I-G-U-I-L-L-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Petite tige de métal fine, pointue à un bout et équipée d’un trou appelé chas à l’autre bout pour y passer un fil. Elle est utilisée pour coudre, pour broder, pour faire de la tapisserie, etc.
  2. 2
    Tige en métal, longue et fine, servant à tricoter.
  3. 3
    Petite tige servant à indiquer une mesure.
  4. 4
    Fine pointe qui servait à lire l'enregistrement du son sur un disque phonographique.
  5. 5
    Clocher pointu.
  6. 6
    Sommet assez fin d’une montagne ou de certains monuments.
  7. 7
    Feuille longue, fine et aciculaire de nombreuses espèces de conifères.
  8. 8
    Partie mobile d’un aiguillage, composée de deux lames reliées par des barres, pouvant occuper deux positions opposées et permettant de tracer un itinéraire ou d’assurer la protection d’autres itinéraires. Désigne également un cœur à pointe mobile.
  9. 9
    Aiguillage de chemin de fer.
  10. 10
    Acte d’aiguiller.
  11. 11
    Cristaux de forme allongée et déliée.
  12. 12
    Tige plus ou moins rigide qu’on fait passer dans un fourreau pour tirer un câble.
  13. 13
    Aiguille hypodermique.
  14. 14
    Autre nom donné couramment à l’orphie.
  15. 15
    Maladie des faucons occasionnée par des vers qui vivent sous la peau et que l’on retrouve dans les excréments de l’oiseau.
  16. 16
    , Ancienne appellation du percuteur.
  17. 17
    Crayon utilisé dans le cœur d’un réacteur à neutrons rapides.
  18. 18
    Travaux de couture réalisés à l’aiguille.
  19. 19
    Longue tige de bois dont le relèvement ou l’abaissement servait à réguler le débit de l’eau dans une écluse.

Synonyms

percuteur

This word in other languages

needle(English)aguja(Español)Nadel(Deutsch)agulha(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: agiuille,aigguille,aigiulle,aiguile,aiguilel,aigulile,aiugille,iaguille

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of aiguille - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.

agiuille2aigguille1aigiulle2aiguile1aiguilel2aigulile2aiugille2iaguille2
Edit distance from "aiguille"

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 "aiguille"?
"aiguille" is spelled A-I-G-U-I-L-L-E. The IPA pronunciation is \e.ɡɥij\.
What does "aiguille" mean?
As a noun, "aiguille" means: Petite tige de métal fine, pointue à un bout et équipée d’un trou appelé chas à l’autre bout pour y passer un fil. Elle est utilisée pour coudre, pour broder, pour faire de la tapisserie, etc.
What words are commonly confused with "aiguille"?
"aiguille" is commonly confused with "anguille", "aiguilles", "aiguillon". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "aiguille"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "aiguille" is \e.ɡɥij\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "aiguille" come from?
"aiguille" 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.

Using “aiguille”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct French spelling is A-I-G-U-I-L-L-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as \e.ɡɥij\ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
  • Don't mix it up with “anguille” - see the side-by-side comparison. aiguille vs anguille
  • Browse more French words and confusable pairs in the same reference. French words
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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list