bécasse

\be.kas\

/\be.kas\/ noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

The verdict

“bécasse” is uncommon French (frequency #57,139 among 4,251 “B” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#57,139
frequency rank, French
4,251
“B” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Petit échassier migrateur qui a le bec fort long, du genre Scolopax.

Corpus desk

Index FR-becasse · bécasse · French

bécasse · rank #57,139 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #57,139
  • LEN-LONG 7 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,251
  • PHOTO-FINISH Bécancour

Nearest frequency peer: Bécancour (-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 « bécasse »

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 « bécasse » se situe face à des rangs français aussi rares.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for bécasse
PropertyValue
Headwordbécasse
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\be.kas\
Letters7
Frequency rank#57,139
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Longue queue: rang de « bécasse » en français

Cette échelle va du noyau du français courant (gauche) jusqu'à la traîne des formes rares (droite).bécassetombe dans cette queue de rareté:

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

L'axe est logarithmique: chaque tic marque environ dix fois moins de fréquence. Voisins rares de la même bande: « Bécancour » (#57,138), « Bénévent » (#57,140), « busy » (#57,136). Parmi 4,251 lemmes en « B », « bécasse » est au #57,139. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

bécasse is uncommon French at frequency #57,139 among 4,251 “B” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed \be.kas\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 5 senses are on record.

No misspelling variants are generated for bécasse in our index, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.

No documented word history exists for this headword, so any spelling logic here comes from how the word's sounds map to letters, not a documented origin story. The correct French form is bécasse, spelled B-É-C-A-S-S-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Petit échassier migrateur qui a le bec fort long, du genre Scolopax.
  2. 2
    (Sens restreint) Synonyme de bécasse des bois.
  3. 3
    Femme sans esprit.
  4. 4
    Système permettant de voir la baisse de la charge dans les hauts fourneaux.
  5. 5
    Outil de vannier utilisé pour la confection des hottes.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Quelquefois en plein hiver ou bien aux premières brumes, un matin, un oiseau plus rare s’envolait à l’endroit du bois le plus abandonné avec un battement d’ailes inconnu, très-bruyant et un peu gauche, quoique rapide. C’était une bécasse arrivée la nuit ; elle montait en battant les branches et se glissait entre les rameaux des grands arbres nus ; à peine…
  2. Une bécasse, c’est chère de prince ; et c’était pour se la réserver que les chasseurs avaient obtenu l’arrêté de prohibition !

Synonyms

bouriole

This word in other languages

woodcock(English)chocha(Español)Waldschnepfe(Deutsch)galinhola(Português)

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 "bécasse"?
"bécasse" is spelled B-É-C-A-S-S-E. The IPA pronunciation is \be.kas\.
What does "bécasse" mean?
As a noun, "bécasse" means: Petit échassier migrateur qui a le bec fort long, du genre Scolopax.
How do you pronounce "bécasse"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "bécasse" is \be.kas\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "bécasse" come from?
"bécasse" 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.

Similar French words by spelling shape

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

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked French headwords with 7 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

buffets#57,131carouge#57,151bretzel#57,126Chaptal#57,159

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list