boussole

/\bu.sɔl\/ noun

Letters

8 characters

Frequency Rank

#19,221

in French word usage

Misspellings

9

tracked variants

Confusables

1

similar word pairs

boussole is aFrenchnoun. It means: Cadran au centre duquel est fixée une aiguille qui tourne librement sur son pivot et dont la pointe aimantée se dirige vers le nord. Pronounced \bu.sɔl\. Often confused with bouscule.

Key facts for boussole
PropertyValue
Headwordboussole
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\bu.sɔl\
Letters8
Frequency rank#19,221
Misspellings tracked9
Confusable pairs1
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency rank visualization

Position of boussole in French word frequency (lower rank = more common)

Source: Wordfreq corpus

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The French entry for boussole is 8 letters long, classified as anoun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as \bu.sɔl\. Corpus data places it at rank #19,221 in overall French word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it.Wiktionary records 3 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our Hunspell-derived misspelling index lists 9 documented wrong-spelling variants for boussole, with forms such as "bboussole", "bosusole", and "bousole". Each variant represents a distinct typo pattern that appears often enough in corpora to be worth flagging, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution.It also participates in 1 confusable-pair relationship, "bouscule", where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

No explicit etymology string is stored for this entry, so spelling patterns must be inferred from the word's phoneme-to-grapheme mapping rather than from a documented borrowing chain. For readers arriving here from a spelling check, the authoritative guidance is: the correct French form is boussole, spelled B-O-U-S-S-O-L-E, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.

Definition

  1. 1
    Cadran au centre duquel est fixée une aiguille qui tourne librement sur son pivot et dont la pointe aimantée se dirige vers le nord.
  2. 2
    Guide, conducteur.
  3. 3
    Meuble représentant l’instrument d'orientation du même nom dans les armoiries. L’aiguille est généralement de deux couleurs qui doivent être blasonnées. La position de l’aiguille peut varier. On précise alors dans le blasonnement la direction indiquée par la boussole. À rapprocher de rose des vents.

Synonyms

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: bboussole,bosusole,bousole,bousosle,boussloe,boussoel,boussolle,buossole,obussole

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

Relative frequency of common misspelling types for boussole

Misspelling Variants of "boussole"

bboussole9bosusole8bousole7bousosle8boussloe8boussoel8boussolle9buossole8
Misspelling Variants of "boussole"

Frequency rank: #19,221 in French

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "boussole"?
"boussole" is spelled B-O-U-S-S-O-L-E. The IPA pronunciation is \bu.sɔl\.
What does "boussole" mean?
As a noun, "boussole" means: Cadran au centre duquel est fixée une aiguille qui tourne librement sur son pivot et dont la pointe aimantée se dirige vers le nord.
What words are commonly confused with "boussole"?
"boussole" is commonly confused with "bouscule". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "boussole"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "boussole" is \bu.sɔl\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "boussole" come from?
"boussole" 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.

Nearby French words

Other entries that begin with the letter B in our French index:

Explore PlainSpell

Data Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Frequency data from Wordfreq. Misspellings derived from Hunspell dictionaries.