ankern

\aŋkɐn\

/\aŋkɐn\/ verb

The verdict

“ankern” is uncommon French (outside the top frequency list), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency French
6
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Jeter l’ancre.

Corpus desk

Index FR-ankern · ankern · French

ankern · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-2 2 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.

Key facts for ankern
PropertyValue
Headwordankern
LanguageFrench
Part of speechVerb
IPA\aŋkɐn\
Letters6
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Longue queue: rang de « ankern » en français

ankernn'entre pas dans le top 100.000 du français: zone de termes techniques, archaïques ou rares.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

ankern is uncommon French outside the top frequency list, classed as averb, transcribed \aŋkɐn\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

ankern doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable French rules. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.

Our source data has no etymology on file for this entry, so its spelling is easiest to reason about phoneme by phoneme, absent a documented history. The correct French form is ankern, spelled A-N-K-E-R-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    Jeter l’ancre.
  2. 2
    Être ancré.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Frau Meiers Yacht ankert vor Monaco.
  2. Am Sonntag hat die malaysische Marine das chinesische Frachtschiff Chuan Hong 68 aufgebracht, das illegal in die Gewässer des Pazifikstaats eingedrungen war. (...) Marinesprecher Nurul Hizam Zakaria sagte der Zeitung "New Straits Times", möglicherweise ankere ein chinesisches "Mutterschiff" außerhalb malaysischer Gewässer.

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.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "ankern"?
"ankern" is spelled A-N-K-E-R-N. The IPA pronunciation is \aŋkɐn\.
What does "ankern" mean?
As a verb, "ankern" means: Jeter l’ancre.
How do you pronounce "ankern"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "ankern" is \aŋkɐn\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "ankern" come from?
"ankern" 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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list