barbue

\baʁ.by\

/\baʁ.by\/ noun

The verdict

“barbue” is uncommon French (frequency #72,947 among 4,251 “B” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#72,947
frequency rank, French
4,251
“B” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Grand poisson osseux marin, un poisson plat au corps ovale, voisin du turbot.

Corpus desk

Index FR-barbue · barbue · French

barbue · rank #72,947 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #72,947
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,251
  • PHOTO-FINISH barbouze

Nearest frequency peer: barbouze (-1 rank slots)

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.

Rangs de longue queue près de « barbue »

Bande clairsemée: les barres inversent le rang pour que le rare se lise plus court

corpus weight

What this shows Vue de longue queue: où « barbue » se situe face à des rangs français aussi rares.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for barbue
PropertyValue
Headwordbarbue
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\baʁ.by\
Letters6
Frequency rank#72,947
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Longue queue: rang de « barbue » en français

De gauche à droite: le peu qui porte la parole quotidienne, puis la longue queue quasi invisible.barbuetombe dans cette queue de rareté:

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

Les tics avancent en logarithme; chacun est de l'ordre de dix fois plus rare. Voisins rares de la même bande: « barbouze » (#72,946), « barron » (#72,948), « Barbizon » (#72,945). Parmi 4,251 lemmes en « B », « barbue » est au #72,947. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

barbue is uncommon French at frequency #72,947 among 4,251 “B” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed \baʁ.by\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 5 senses are on record.

Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for barbue, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. 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.

No documented word history exists for this headword, so its spelling is best read as a straightforward mapping from sound to letter. The correct French form is barbue, spelled B-A-R-B-U-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Grand poisson osseux marin, un poisson plat au corps ovale, voisin du turbot.
  2. 2
    Vieille fille → voir barbon.
  3. 3
    Plume à écrire.
  4. 4
    Marcotte racinée.
  5. 5
    Synonyme de nielle.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Elle jeta la barbue sur le marbre, montrant, du côté du ventre, une large déchirure qui entamait la chair jusqu’à l’arête.
  2. Un matelot s'approcha pour offrir du poisson, et Jeanne acheta une barbue qu'elle voulut rapporter elle-même aux Peuples.

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); 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 "barbue"?
"barbue" is spelled B-A-R-B-U-E. The IPA pronunciation is \baʁ.by\.
What does "barbue" mean?
As a noun, "barbue" means: Grand poisson osseux marin, un poisson plat au corps ovale, voisin du turbot.
How do you pronounce "barbue"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "barbue" is \baʁ.by\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "barbue" come from?
"barbue" is a French word. PlainSpell's reference spans five languages -- English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German -- with definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for each.
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.

Similar French words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "barbue", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked French headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list