boulin

\bu.lɛ̃\

/\bu.lɛ̃\/ noun

The verdict

“boulin” is uncommon French (frequency #59,123 among 4,251 “B” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#59,123
frequency rank, French
4,251
“B” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Trou pratiqué dans un colombier, afin que les pigeons s’y retirent et y fassent leurs petits.

Corpus desk

Index FR-boulin · boulin · French

boulin · rank #59,123 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #59,123
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,251
  • PHOTO-FINISH bottine

Nearest frequency peer: bottine (-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 « boulin »

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

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for boulin
PropertyValue
Headwordboulin
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\bu.lɛ̃\
Letters6
Frequency rank#59,123
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Longue queue: rang de « boulin » en français

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

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

L'échelle est logarithmique (chaque tic ≈ 10× plus rare). Voisins rares de la même bande: « bottine » (#59,122), « bousculant » (#59,124), « bombée » (#59,121). Parmi 4,251 lemmes en « B », « boulin » est au #59,123. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

boulin is uncommon French at frequency #59,123 among 4,251 “B” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed \bu.lɛ̃\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 4 senses are on record.

No generated misspelling entries exist for boulin in our index, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.

This headword's origin isn't recorded in our source data, so its spelling is best read as a straightforward mapping from sound to letter. The correct French form is boulin, spelled B-O-U-L-I-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    Trou pratiqué dans un colombier, afin que les pigeons s’y retirent et y fassent leurs petits.
  2. 2
    Pots de terre faits exprès pour servir de retraite à des pigeons, pour attirer des pigeons étrangers.
  3. 3
    Trous laissés dans un mur en construction par les pièces de bois de soutien d’un échafaudage.
  4. 4
    Pièce de bois utilisée pour le montage des échafaudages.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. On crêpit & on blanchit les parois des murailles en dedans, & on dispose pour chaque couple de pigeons, des boulins de forme ronde, que l’on range par ordre en les serrant les uns contre les autres.
  2. Solitaire endurci, M. des Lourdines aurait, à la rigueur, consenti à voir les gens, mais il ne voulait pas être vu, de sorte qu’on avait fini par le laisser se pelotonner dans son Fougeray, comme un pigeon dans son boulin.

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 "boulin"?
"boulin" is spelled B-O-U-L-I-N. The IPA pronunciation is \bu.lɛ̃\.
What does "boulin" mean?
As a noun, "boulin" means: Trou pratiqué dans un colombier, afin que les pigeons s’y retirent et y fassent leurs petits.
How do you pronounce "boulin"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "boulin" is \bu.lɛ̃\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "boulin" come from?
"boulin" 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 "boulin", 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