brise-glace

\bʁiz.ɡlas\

/\bʁiz.ɡlas\/ noun

The verdict

“brise-glace” is uncommon French (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency French
11
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Construction placée en amont des piles d’un pont pour briser les glaces et les séparer.

Key facts for brise-glace
PropertyValue
Headwordbrise-glace
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\bʁiz.ɡlas\
Letters11
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “brise-glace” sits in French frequency

brise-glace falls outside the top-100,000 ranked French words, the long-tail zone of technical, archaic, or low-frequency vocabulary, exactly where readers second-guess spellings most.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

brise-glace is uncommon French outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed \bʁiz.ɡlas\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

No misspelling variants are generated for brise-glace in our index, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. No confusable counterpart is on file for this word, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.

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 brise-glace, spelled B-R-I-S-E---G-L-A-C-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Construction placée en amont des piles d’un pont pour briser les glaces et les séparer.
  2. 2
    Bateau muni d’un dispositif destiné à briser la glace dans les rivières, dans les fleuves ou sur la banquise polaire en haute mer.

This word in other languages

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "brise-glace"?
"brise-glace" is spelled B-R-I-S-E---G-L-A-C-E. The IPA pronunciation is \bʁiz.ɡlas\.
What does "brise-glace" mean?
As a noun, "brise-glace" means: Construction placée en amont des piles d’un pont pour briser les glaces et les séparer.
How do you pronounce "brise-glace"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "brise-glace" is \bʁiz.ɡlas\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "brise-glace" come from?
"brise-glace" is a French word. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for this and other words across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German on PlainSpell.
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.

Using “brise-glace”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct French spelling is B-R-I-S-E---G-L-A-C-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as \bʁiz.ɡlas\ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
  • 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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list