bascule
French, noun
bascule is spelled B-A-S-C-U-L-E (7 letters) and appears 3.6 times per million words in written French, the 13,986th most frequent French word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Bascule is a French feminine noun meaning “seesaw” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). It is also a first/third-person singular present indicative/subjunctive of basculer. With an accent, basculé is a different word: “past participle of basculer”. The French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire) defines it as “Pièce de bois ou d’autre matière soutenue par le milieu de manière qu’en pesant sur l’un des bouts on fait…”.
What does bascule mean in English?
noun
- 1
feminineseesaw
- 2
feminineflip-flop
verb
- 1
first/third-person singular present indicative/subjunctive
- 2
second-person singular imperative
verb
- 1
past participle of basculer
Source: English Wiktionary, French section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How French dictionaries define it
noun: 1. Pièce de bois ou d’autre matière soutenue par le milieu de manière qu’en pesant sur l’un des bouts on fait lever l’autre. 2. Jeu où deux personnes, étant chacune sur le bout d’une pièce de bois mise en équilibre, s’amusent à se balancer. 3. Mouvement semblable à celui de la bascule. 4. Genre de balance dont on se sert pour peser les objets lourds et encombrants. → voir balance de Quintenz
The definition in the French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire), in French.
Source: French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire), dump of September 1, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org.
Forms of bascule
- bascules plural
- basculée feminine
- basculés masculine plural
- basculées feminine plural
Source: English Wiktionary and French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire) (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
English words that translate to bascule
Source: the translation tables of the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026.
How common is bascule in French?
bascule appears 3.6 times per million words in written French.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).