calanque

\ka.lɑ̃k\

/\ka.lɑ̃k\/ noun

The verdict

“calanque” is uncommon French (frequency #76,393 among 8,609 “C” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#76,393
frequency rank, French
8,609
“C” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Petite baie, crique, parfois profonde et entourée de terres élevées.

Corpus desk

Index FR-calanque · calanque · French

calanque · rank #76,393 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #76,393
  • LEN-LONG 8 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 8,609
  • PHOTO-FINISH cabochons

Nearest frequency peer: cabochons (-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 « calanque »

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

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for calanque
PropertyValue
Headwordcalanque
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\ka.lɑ̃k\
Letters8
Frequency rank#76,393
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Longue queue: rang de « calanque » en français

Cette échelle va du noyau du français courant (gauche) jusqu'à la traîne des formes rares (droite).calanquetombe 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: « cabochons » (#76,392), « calcinée » (#76,394), « cabestan » (#76,391). Parmi 8,609 lemmes en « C », « calanque » est au #76,393. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

calanque is uncommon French at frequency #76,393 among 8,609 “C” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed \ka.lɑ̃k\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Petite baie, crique, parfois profonde et entourée de terres élevées.".

No misspelling variants are generated for calanque in our index, a sign its spelling follows regular French conventions. This headword has no recorded confusable partner, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.

This entry's etymology isn't recorded, so spelling patterns must be inferred from the word's phoneme-to-grapheme mapping rather than from a documented borrowing chain. The correct French form is calanque, spelled C-A-L-A-N-Q-U-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Petite baie, crique, parfois profonde et entourée de terres élevées.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Le modèle utilisé – une grande barque de pêche et de transport côtier – date en effet de quelques décennies à peine après l’arrivée des premiers colons grecs dans la calanque du Lacydon, qui deviendra le port de Marseille.
  2. En ombres chinoises sur le feu d’artifice chromatique d’un couchant somptueux, ils descendaient à présent sans se presser, par le chemin côtier qui mène à la calanque de Callelongue.

Synonyms

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); 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 "calanque"?
"calanque" is spelled C-A-L-A-N-Q-U-E. The IPA pronunciation is \ka.lɑ̃k\.
What does "calanque" mean?
As a noun, "calanque" means: Petite baie, crique, parfois profonde et entourée de terres élevées.
How do you pronounce "calanque"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "calanque" is \ka.lɑ̃k\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "calanque" come from?
"calanque" 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 "calanque", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked French headwords with 8 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list