cerca

\ˈθer.ka\

/\ˈθer.ka\/ adv

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

The verdict

“cerca” is uncommon French (frequency #99,975 among 8,609 “C” headwords), classed as an adverb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#99,975
frequency rank, French
8,609
“C” headwords

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

Corpus desk

Index FR-cerca · cerca · French

cerca · rank #99,975 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #99,975
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 8,609
  • PHOTO-FINISH centurie

Nearest frequency peer: centurie (-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 « cerca »

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

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for cerca
PropertyValue
Headwordcerca
LanguageFrench
Part of speechAdverb
IPA\ˈθer.ka\
Letters5
Frequency rank#99,975
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Longue queue: rang de « cerca » en français

Cette échelle va du noyau du français courant (gauche) jusqu'à la traîne des formes rares (droite).cercatombe 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: « centurie » (#99,974), « Catroux » (#99,972), « carri » (#99,970). Parmi 8,609 lemmes en « C », « cerca » est au #99,975. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

cerca is uncommon French at frequency #99,975 among 8,609 “C” headwords, classed as anadverb, transcribed \ˈθer.ka\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

No generated misspelling entries exist for cerca in our index, suggesting the orthography follows predictable French patterns. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.

Our source data has no etymology on file for this entry, so its spelling pattern is best understood through pronunciation rather than a traceable origin. The correct French form is cerca, spelled C-E-R-C-A.

Definition

  1. 1
    Proche, près.
  2. 2
    Environ, à peu près (suivi de la préposition de).

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

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

  1. Todos los años, por el mes de marzo, una familia de gitanos desarrapados plantaba su carpa cerca de la aldea, y con un grande alboroto de pitos y timbales daban a conocer los nuevos inventos.

Synonyms

próximoaproximadamente

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 "cerca"?
"cerca" is spelled C-E-R-C-A. The IPA pronunciation is \ˈθer.ka\.
What does "cerca" mean?
As an adverb, "cerca" means: Proche, près.
How do you pronounce "cerca"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "cerca" is \ˈθer.ka\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "cerca" come from?
"cerca" 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 "cerca", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked French headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

carri#99,970chott#99,994cifre#99,997cabra#99,948

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list