cerfeuil

\sɛʁ.fœj\

/\sɛʁ.fœj\/ noun

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

The verdict

“cerfeuil” is uncommon French (frequency #84,624 among 257,141 “C” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#84,624
frequency rank, French
257,141
“C” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Plante potagère annuelle aromatique de la famille des Apiacées (ou Ombellifères) qui est employée dans la cuisine comme assaisonnement ou comme ingrédient dans des potages et dont le nom scientifiq...

Key facts for cerfeuil
PropertyValue
Headwordcerfeuil
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\sɛʁ.fœj\
Letters8
Frequency rank#84,624
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “cerfeuil” sits in French frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). cerfeuil lands here:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

cerfeuil is uncommon French at frequency #84,624 among 257,141 “C” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed \sɛʁ.fœj\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.

Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for cerfeuil, a sign its spelling follows regular French conventions. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.

No documented word history exists for this headword, so spelling patterns must be inferred from the word's phoneme-to-grapheme mapping rather than from a documented borrowing chain. The correct French form is cerfeuil, spelled C-E-R-F-E-U-I-L.

Definition

  1. 1
    Plante potagère annuelle aromatique de la famille des Apiacées (ou Ombellifères) qui est employée dans la cuisine comme assaisonnement ou comme ingrédient dans des potages et dont le nom scientifique est Anthriscus cerefolium (L.) Hoffm.
  2. 2
    Nom donné à d'autres Apiacées que Anthriscus cerefolium citée au dessus, notamment de nombreuses plantes du genre Chaerophyllum dont certaines sont comestibles (par ex.cerfeuil tubéreux) et d'autres toxiques (par ex. cerfeuil des fous).
  3. 3
    Nom donné à d'autres Apiacées que Anthriscus cerefolium citée en premier, notamment à Myrrhis odorata connu sous les noms de cerfeuil musqué, cerfeuil anisé ou cerfeuil d'Espagne qui est une plante comestible.

Synonyms

anthrisquecerfeuil communcerfeuil cultivécerfeuil officinal

This word in other languages

chervil(English)Kerbel(Deutsch)

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 "cerfeuil"?
"cerfeuil" is spelled C-E-R-F-E-U-I-L. The IPA pronunciation is \sɛʁ.fœj\.
What does "cerfeuil" mean?
As a noun, "cerfeuil" means: Plante potagère annuelle aromatique de la famille des Apiacées (ou Ombellifères) qui est employée dans la cuisine comme assaisonnement ou comme ingrédient dans des potages et dont le nom scientifiq...
How do you pronounce "cerfeuil"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "cerfeuil" is \sɛʁ.fœj\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "cerfeuil" come from?
"cerfeuil" 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.

Using “cerfeuil”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct French spelling is C-E-R-F-E-U-I-L - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as \sɛʁ.fœj\ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
  • Browse more French words and confusable pairs in the same reference. French words

Other uncommon French words near this rank

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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list