cantilène
\kɑ̃.ti.lɛn\
The verdict
“cantilène” is uncommon French (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency French
- 9
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Phrase musicale d’une mélodie du genre simple.
Corpus desk
Index FR-cantilene · cantilène · French
cantilène · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-LONG 9 letters
- VOW-4 4 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "C" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
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.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | cantilène |
| Language | French |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | \kɑ̃.ti.lɛn\ |
| Letters | 9 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Longue queue: rang de « cantilène » en français
Rare enough to double-check
cantilène is uncommon French outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed \kɑ̃.ti.lɛn\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.
We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for cantilène, suggesting the orthography follows predictable French patterns. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.
No explicit etymology string is stored for this entry, so any spelling logic here comes from how the word's sounds map to letters, not a documented origin story. The correct French form is cantilène, spelled C-A-N-T-I-L-È-N-E.
Definition
- 1Phrase musicale d’une mélodie du genre simple.
- 2Chanson monotone.
- 3Morceau de poésie.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how cantilène appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Plus d’une fois, je suis resté attendri, songeant à de délicieux moments : soit que je revisse cette délicieuse fille assise près de ma table, occupée à coudre, paisible, silencieuse, recueillie et faiblement éclairée par le jour qui, descendant de ma lucarne, dessinait de légers reflets argentés sur sa belle chevelure noire; soit que j’entendisse son rir…
Un homme accroupi à terre, la tête renversée, les yeux clos, comme en rêve, chanta une cantilène ancienne où le mot amour alternait avec le mot mort.
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.