bande dessinée

\bɑ̃d dɛ.si.ne\

/\bɑ̃d dɛ.si.ne\/ noun

The verdict

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

Unranked
below top-frequency French
14
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Œuvre utilisant des images fixes non purement photographiques, généralement des dessins, articulées dans une visée narrative.

Corpus desk

Index FR-bande-dessinee · bande dessinée · French

bande dessinée · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-MEGA 14 letters
  • VOW-6 6 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "B" 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 bande dessinée
PropertyValue
Headwordbande dessinée
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\bɑ̃d dɛ.si.ne\
Letters14
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Longue queue: rang de « bande dessinée » en français

bande dessinéen'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

bande dessinée is uncommon French outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed \bɑ̃d dɛ.si.ne\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

bande dessinée doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.

Wiktionary doesn't record an etymology for this headword, so its spelling is easiest explained by how it's pronounced rather than where it came from. The correct French form is bande dessinée, spelled B-A-N-D-E- -D-E-S-S-I-N-É-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Œuvre utilisant des images fixes non purement photographiques, généralement des dessins, articulées dans une visée narrative.
  2. 2
    L’album contenant une bande dessinée.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. C'est sous la forme d'une bande dessinée de Jean-Louis Tripp que la ville de Moissy-Cramayel a choisi de faire connaître au public les nouveaux locaux de sa médiathèque.
  2. Quand tu l’auras finie, tu pourras me prêter ta bande dessinée ?

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). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "bande dessinée"?
"bande dessinée" is spelled B-A-N-D-E- -D-E-S-S-I-N-É-E. The IPA pronunciation is \bɑ̃d dɛ.si.ne\.
What does "bande dessinée" mean?
As a noun, "bande dessinée" means: Œuvre utilisant des images fixes non purement photographiques, généralement des dessins, articulées dans une visée narrative.
How do you pronounce "bande dessinée"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "bande dessinée" is \bɑ̃d dɛ.si.ne\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "bande dessinée" come from?
"bande dessinée" 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