caftan

\kaf.tɑ̃\

/\kaf.tɑ̃\/ noun

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

The verdict

“caftan” is uncommon French (frequency #72,149 among 8,609 “C” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#72,149
frequency rank, French
8,609
“C” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Tunique longue.

Corpus desk

Index FR-caftan · caftan · French

caftan · rank #72,149 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #72,149
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 8,609
  • PHOTO-FINISH Callaghan

Nearest frequency peer: Callaghan (+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 « caftan »

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

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for caftan
PropertyValue
Headwordcaftan
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\kaf.tɑ̃\
Letters6
Frequency rank#72,149
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Longue queue: rang de « caftan » en français

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

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

Les tics avancent en logarithme; chacun est de l'ordre de dix fois plus rare. Voisins rares de la même bande: « Callaghan » (#72,150), « cadrages » (#72,147), « caméléons » (#72,151). Parmi 8,609 lemmes en « C », « caftan » est au #72,149. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

caftan is uncommon French at frequency #72,149 among 8,609 “C” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed \kaf.tɑ̃\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 5 senses are on record.

Zero misspellings are on record for caftan in our index, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.

Our source data has no etymology on file for this entry, so its spelling is easiest to reason about phoneme by phoneme, absent a documented history. The correct French form is caftan, spelled C-A-F-T-A-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    Tunique longue.
  2. 2
    Robe de distinction en usage autrefois chez les Turcs.
  3. 3
    Robe d’intérieur, et d’apparat, parfois richement décorée, portée par les femmes en Orient et au Maghreb.
  4. 4
    Robe fourrée portée en Europe centrale et en Orient par les Juifs.
  5. 5
    Manteau en usage en Europe centrale et orientale.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Quelques-uns de ses compagnons de voyage s’y trouvaient déjà. Le premier, le plus pressé parmi eux avait été un grand palefrenier très maigre, qu’habillait du cou aux chevilles un caftan brun doublé de laine de mouton. Qui portait un vêtement de cette forme n’avait pas besoin de nommer sa province.
  2. Ils portent des turbans blancs, des caftans de couleurs vives et ordinairement en étoffe de coton très-légère.

Synonyms

chylaat

This word in other languages

caftan(English)caftán(Español)Kaftan(Deutsch)

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 "caftan"?
"caftan" is spelled C-A-F-T-A-N. The IPA pronunciation is \kaf.tɑ̃\.
What does "caftan" mean?
As a noun, "caftan" means: Tunique longue.
How do you pronounce "caftan"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "caftan" is \kaf.tɑ̃\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "caftan" come from?
"caftan" 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 "caftan", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked French headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Béotie#72,146chaput#72,167Cherki#72,173boring#72,123

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list