cerceau

\sɛʁ.so\

/\sɛʁ.so\/ noun

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

The verdict

“cerceau” has 9 generated spelling variants in the French index at frequency #43,833. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#43,833
frequency rank, French
8,609
“C” headwords
9
tracked misspellings
4
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Lame de fer mince ou latte de bois flexible, formant un cercle, dont on se sert pour maintenir les douves des tonneaux, des cuves, etc.

Corpus desk

Index FR-cerceau · cerceau · French

cerceau · rank #43,833 · 9 variants · 4 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #43,833
  • LEN-LONG 7 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-MID 4 pairs
  • VAR-MID 9 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 8,609
  • PHOTO-FINISH cendré

Nearest frequency peer: cendré (-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 « cerceau »

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

corpus weight

What this shows « cerceau » 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).

cerceau vs cerveau
86% similar
cerceau vs corbeau
71% similar
cerceau vs cerveaux
75% similar

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

Key facts for cerceau
PropertyValue
Headwordcerceau
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\sɛʁ.so\
Letters7
Frequency rank#43,833
Misspellings tracked9
Confusable pairs4
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Fréquence de l'aimant d'erreurs « cerceau »

Cette échelle va du noyau du français courant (gauche) jusqu'à la traîne des formes rares (droite).cerceause place ici:

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

L'échelle est logarithmique (chaque tic ≈ 10× plus rare). Dans la même bande de rareté figurent « cendré » (#43,832), « cessant » (#43,834), « cataractes » (#43,831). Parmi 8,609 lemmes en « C », « cerceau » est au #43,833. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 9 spelling variants around cerceau (IPA \sɛʁ.so\), anoun. Corpus frequency is #43,833 among 8,609 “C” headwords. Wiktionary lists 9 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 9 likely wrong-spelling variants for cerceau, with forms such as "ccerceau", "cecreau", and "cercaeu". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 4 confusable-pair relationships, "cerveau", "corbeau", "cerveaux", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

No documented word history exists for this headword, leaving phoneme-to-grapheme mapping as the best guide to its spelling rather than a borrowing history. The correct French form is cerceau, spelled C-E-R-C-E-A-U.

Definition

  1. 1
    Lame de fer mince ou latte de bois flexible, formant un cercle, dont on se sert pour maintenir les douves des tonneaux, des cuves, etc.
  2. 2
    Cercle de bois léger que les enfants font courir devant eux comme une roue, en le poussant avec un petit bâton.
  3. 3
    Bois courbés qui servent à soutenir la toile dont on couvre une voiture, une barque, ; cercles tendus de papier au travers desquels passent les acrobates, les faiseurs de tours.
  4. 4
    Différents objets qui forment seulement le demi-cercle ; arceau.
  5. 5
    Sorte de filet dont on se sert pour prendre des oiseaux.
  6. 6
    Extrémité des plumes du bout de l’aile de certains oiseaux de proie.
  7. 7
    Un des cinq engins utilisés en gymnastique rythmique.
  8. 8
    Un des agrès aériens utilisés par les circassiens.
  9. 9
    Volant de direction d’un véhicule.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Il venait, avec Maddalena, de traverser le vaste chai […]. D'énormes foudres, hauts de trois mètres, alignaient leurs cerceaux ovales, d'un bout à l'autre de la galerie.
  2. Je peux m’abandonner, je me laisse imprégner par cette lumière dorée, ces roucoulements, ces pépiements, ces tintements de clochettes sur la tête des ânons, des chèvres, ces sonneries des cerceaux munis d’un manche que poussent devant eux les petits qui ne savent pas se servir d’un bâton…

This word in other languages

hoop(English)aro(Español)Reifen(Deutsch)aro(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • ccerceau
  • cecreau
  • cercaeu
  • cercceau
  • cerceua
  • cerecau
  • cerrceau
  • creceau
  • ecrceau

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

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

ccerceau1cecreau2cercaeu2cercceau1cerceua2cerecau2cerrceau1creceau2
Edit distance from "cerceau"

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 "cerceau"?
"cerceau" is spelled C-E-R-C-E-A-U. The IPA pronunciation is \sɛʁ.so\.
What does "cerceau" mean?
As a noun, "cerceau" means: Lame de fer mince ou latte de bois flexible, formant un cercle, dont on se sert pour maintenir les douves des tonneaux, des cuves, etc.
What words are commonly confused with "cerceau"?
"cerceau" is commonly confused with "cerveau", "corbeau", "cerveaux". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "cerceau"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "cerceau" is \sɛʁ.so\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "cerceau" come from?
"cerceau" is a French word. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for this and other words across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German on PlainSpell.
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 "cerceau", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked French headwords with 7 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

cessant#43,834chardin#43,836captage#43,828chéries#43,843

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (9 here; floor ≥5).

Clisson9 variantscolocs9 variantsbounty9 variantsbiaisée9 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list