canicule

\ka.ni.kyl\

/\ka.ni.kyl\/ noun

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

The verdict

“canicule” has 11 generated spelling variants in the French index at frequency #15,584. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#15,584
frequency rank, French
8,609
“C” headwords
11
tracked misspellings
3
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Période prolongée de chaleur intense et inhabituelle, durant plusieurs jours consécutifs, généralement accompagnée de nuits chaudes, et susceptible d’avoir des impacts sanitaires, agricoles et envi...

Corpus desk

Index FR-canicule · canicule · French

canicule · rank #15,584 · 11 variants · 3 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #15,584
  • LEN-LONG 8 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-LOW 3 pairs
  • VAR-MID 11 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 8,609
  • PHOTO-FINISH Calgary

Nearest frequency peer: Calgary (-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.

Pairs de rang près de l'aimant d'erreurs « canicule »

Même bande de rareté: utile si une faute tombe sur un lemme voisin

corpus weight

What this shows « canicule » siège parmi ces pairs FrequencyWords; la profondeur des fautes est suivie à part dans le graphique d'édition.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

canicule vs capitule
75% similar
canicule vs calcule
75% similar
canicule vs caniche
75% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for canicule
PropertyValue
Headwordcanicule
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\ka.ni.kyl\
Letters8
Frequency rank#15,584
Misspellings tracked11
Confusable pairs3
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Fréquence de l'aimant d'erreurs « canicule »

La fréquence va de la poignée de mots du quotidien (gauche) à la longue queue presque jamais vue (droite).caniculese place ici:

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

Les tics avancent en logarithme; chacun est de l'ordre de dix fois plus rare. Dans la même bande de rareté figurent « Calgary » (#15,583), « caresser » (#15,585), « cachait » (#15,582). Parmi 8,609 lemmes en « C », « canicule » est au #15,584. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 11 spelling variants around canicule (IPA \ka.ni.kyl\), anoun. Corpus frequency is #15,584 among 8,609 “C” headwords. Wiktionary lists 2 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 11 likely wrong-spelling variants for canicule, with forms such as "acnicule", "caincule", and "canciule". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 3 confusable-pair relationships, "capitule", "calcule", "caniche", since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

Wiktionary doesn't record an etymology for this headword, so its spelling is best read as a straightforward mapping from sound to letter. The correct French form is canicule, spelled C-A-N-I-C-U-L-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Période prolongée de chaleur intense et inhabituelle, durant plusieurs jours consécutifs, généralement accompagnée de nuits chaudes, et susceptible d’avoir des impacts sanitaires, agricoles et environnementaux.
  2. 2
    Canicule marine; épisode de réchauffement anormal et prolongé de la surface des océans, perturbant les écosystèmes marins.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. On n’a plus eu de canicule aussi grave depuis 1912.
  2. Il est vrai que nous étions en pleine canicule, saison pendant laquelle l’Espagne n’est plus guère qu’un vaste tas de cendre sans végétation ni verdure.

Synonyms

vague de chaleurgrosse chaleur

This word in other languages

heat wave(English)canícula(Español)Hitzewelle(Deutsch)canícula(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • acnicule
  • caincule
  • canciule
  • caniccule
  • caniclue
  • canicuel
  • caniculle
  • caniucle
  • cannicule
  • ccanicule
  • cnaicule

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of canicule - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.

acnicule2caincule2canciule2caniccule1caniclue2canicuel2caniculle1caniucle2
Edit distance from "canicule"

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 "canicule"?
"canicule" is spelled C-A-N-I-C-U-L-E. The IPA pronunciation is \ka.ni.kyl\.
What does "canicule" mean?
As a noun, "canicule" means: Période prolongée de chaleur intense et inhabituelle, durant plusieurs jours consécutifs, généralement accompagnée de nuits chaudes, et susceptible d’avoir des impacts sanitaires, agricoles et envi...
What words are commonly confused with "canicule"?
"canicule" is commonly confused with "capitule", "calcule", "caniche". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "canicule"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "canicule" is \ka.ni.kyl\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "canicule" come from?
"canicule" is a French word. PlainSpell's reference spans five languages -- English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German -- with definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for each.
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 "canicule", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

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

caresser#15,585cascades#15,586brancher#15,579bouquins#15,578

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (11 here; floor ≥5).

Calgary11 variantscolorés11 variantscontenue11 variantsassimiler11 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list