ancelle
\ɑ̃.sɛl\
The verdict
“ancelle” is uncommon French (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency French
- 7
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Petite servante.
Corpus desk
Index FR-ancelle · ancelle · French
ancelle · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-LONG 7 letters
- VOW-3 3 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "A" 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 | ancelle |
| Language | French |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | \ɑ̃.sɛl\ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Longue queue: rang de « ancelle » en français
Rare enough to double-check
ancelle is uncommon French outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed \ɑ̃.sɛl\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.
No misspelling variants are generated for ancelle in our index, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. No confusable counterpart is on file for this word, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.
No explicit etymology string is stored for this entry, so any spelling logic here comes from how the word's sounds map to letters, not a documented origin story. The correct French form is ancelle, spelled A-N-C-E-L-L-E.
Definition
- 1Petite servante.
- 2Se disait en parlant de la Sainte Vierge, qui elle-même s’appliqua le mot de servante, quand l’ange lui annonça qu’elle deviendrait mère du Sauveur (Ecce Ancilla Domini).
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how ancelle appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Tres haute et tres noble creature de laquelle la cognoiscence mest occulte puis quil vous plaist tant me honnourer que vostre servante et ancelle me daigniez appeller plaise vous me certefier doncques la propriete de vous ma venerable maistresse.
Ce ne sont pas les aptitudes artistiques qui constituent des traits sexuels secondaires, comme l’ont prétendu certains charlatans et chamans ; c’est tout le contraire : le sexe n’est que l’ancelle de l’art.
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.