bourre
\buʁ\
The verdict
“bourre” is a moderately-common French word, ranked #17,887 in French word frequency and used as a noun.
- #17,887
- frequency rank, French
- 6
- letters
- 6
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Amas de poils détachés de la peau de certains animaux à poil ras, tels que les bovins, les chevaux, etc.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | bourre |
| Language | French |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | \buʁ\ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #17,887 |
| Misspellings tracked | 6 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “bourre” sits in French frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The French entry for bourre is 6 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as \buʁ\. Corpus data places it at rank #17,887 in overall French word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 7 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 6 likely wrong-spelling variants for bourre, with forms such as "bbourre", "borure", and "boure". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "bure", "burke", "bouse", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Our source data has no etymology on file for this entry, 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 bourre, spelled B-O-U-R-R-E.
Definition
- 1Amas de poils détachés de la peau de certains animaux à poil ras, tels que les bovins, les chevaux, etc.
- 2Partie la plus grossière du cocon, celle qui ne se dévide pas.
- 3Remplissage superflu, bourrage.
- 4Ce qu’on met par-dessus la charge d’une cartouche de fusil.
- 5Duvet qui couvre les bourgeons de quelques arbres et arbrisseaux, lorsqu’ils commencent à pousser. → voir débourrer
- 6Jeune âge, par analogie avec celui qui précède le débourrage chez les chevaux.
- 7Couverture végétale de la toiture de certaines maisons → voir bourrine
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: bbourre,borure,boure,bourer,buorre,oburre
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of bourre - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
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 "bourre"?
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Using “bourre”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct French spelling is B-O-U-R-R-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as \buʁ\ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “bure” - see the side-by-side comparison. bourre vs bure
- Browse more French words and confusable pairs in the same reference. French words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.