Cathay
\ka.taj\
The verdict
“Cathay” is uncommon French (frequency #74,642 among 8,609 “C” headwords), classed as a proper noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #74,642
- frequency rank, French
- 8,609
- “C” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Chine sous la domination mongole.
Corpus desk
Index FR-cathay · Cathay · French
Cathay · rank #74,642 · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-RARE #74,642
- LEN-LONG 6 letters
- VOW-3 3 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-DENSE 8,609
- PHOTO-FINISH cathodiques
Nearest frequency peer: cathodiques (+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 « Cathay »
Bande clairsemée: les barres inversent le rang pour que le rare se lise plus court
- cassaient
cassaient
25,362 corpus weight
- castillans
castillans
25,361 corpus weight
- Cathay
Cathay
25,359 corpus weight
- cathodiques
cathodiques
25,358 corpus weight
- catoire
catoire
25,357 corpus weight
- CBN
CBN
25,356 corpus weight
What this shows Vue de longue queue: où « Cathay » se situe face à des rangs français aussi rares.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | Cathay |
| Language | French |
| Part of speech | Proper noun |
| IPA | \ka.taj\ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #74,642 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Longue queue: rang de « Cathay » en français
Rare enough to double-check
Cathay is uncommon French at frequency #74,642 among 8,609 “C” headwords, classed as aproper noun, transcribed \ka.taj\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Chine sous la domination mongole.".
We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for Cathay, suggesting the orthography follows predictable French patterns. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.
No documented word history exists for this headword, so its spelling pattern is best understood through pronunciation rather than a traceable origin. The correct French form is Cathay, spelled C-A-T-H-A-Y.
Definition
- 1Chine sous la domination mongole.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how Cathay appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Ils font dans la province de Cathay une fort bonne boisson composée de riz et de plusieurs parfums, laquelle par sa douceur surpasse la bonté du vin.
Sachez que le Grand Khan demeure trois mois de l’an, assavoir : décembre, janvier et février, en la principale cité du Cathay (Chine septentrionale), laquelle a nom Cambaluc.
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
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Similar French words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "Cathay", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked French headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).