apical
\a.pi.kal\
The verdict
“apical” is uncommon French (frequency #80,868 among 424,905 “A” headwords), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #80,868
- frequency rank, French
- 424,905
- “A” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Relatif à l’apex.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | apical |
| Language | French |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | \a.pi.kal\ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #80,868 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “apical” sits in French frequency
Rare enough to double-check
apical is uncommon French at frequency #80,868 among 424,905 “A” headwords, classed as anadjective, transcribed \a.pi.kal\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.
We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for apical, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable French rules. Our dataset records no confusable match here, 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, so its spelling is easiest explained by how it's pronounced rather than where it came from. The correct French form is apical, spelled A-P-I-C-A-L.
Definition
- 1Relatif à l’apex.
- 2Qui appartient au sommet.
- 3Se dit d'une consonne dont l'articulation se fait par application de l'apex (pointe) de la langue contre les dents (dentale), contre les alvéoles (alvéolaire), ou contre le haut et l'arrière de la bouche (rétroflexe).
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
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Using “apical”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct French spelling is A-P-I-C-A-L - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as \a.pi.kal\ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Browse more French words and confusable pairs in the same reference. French words
Other uncommon French words near this rank
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.