cerceau
\sɛʁ.so\
The verdict
“cerceau” is a moderately-common French word, ranked #43,833 in French word frequency and used as a noun.
- #43,833
- frequency rank, French
- 7
- letters
- 9
- tracked misspellings
- 4
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 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.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | cerceau |
| Language | French |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | \sɛʁ.so\ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Frequency rank | #43,833 |
| Misspellings tracked | 9 |
| Confusable pairs | 4 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “cerceau” sits in French frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The French entry for cerceau is 7 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as \sɛʁ.so\. Corpus data places it at rank #43,833 in overall French word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 9 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
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
- 1Lame de fer mince ou latte de bois flexible, formant un cercle, dont on se sert pour maintenir les douves des tonneaux, des cuves, etc.
- 2Cercle de bois léger que les enfants font courir devant eux comme une roue, en le poussant avec un petit bâton.
- 3Bois 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.
- 4Différents objets qui forment seulement le demi-cercle ; arceau.
- 5Sorte de filet dont on se sert pour prendre des oiseaux.
- 6Extrémité des plumes du bout de l’aile de certains oiseaux de proie.
- 7Un des cinq engins utilisés en gymnastique rythmique.
- 8Un des agrès aériens utilisés par les circassiens.
- 9Volant de direction d’un véhicule.
This word in other languages
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.
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"?
What does "cerceau" mean?
What words are commonly confused with "cerceau"?
How do you pronounce "cerceau"?
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Is PlainSpell free to use?
Using “cerceau”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct French spelling is C-E-R-C-E-A-U - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as \sɛʁ.so\ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “cerveau” - see the side-by-side comparison. cerceau vs cerveau
- Browse more French words and confusable pairs in the same reference. French words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.