charbon de bois

\ʃaʁ.bɔ̃ də bwa\

/\ʃaʁ.bɔ̃ də bwa\/ noun

The verdict

“charbon de bois” is uncommon French (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency French
15
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Bois duquel on a retiré l’humidité et toute matière végétale ou organique volatile, afin de ne laisser que le carbone et quelques minéraux.

Key facts for charbon de bois
PropertyValue
Headwordcharbon de bois
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\ʃaʁ.bɔ̃ də bwa\
Letters15
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “charbon de bois” sits in French frequency

charbon de bois falls outside the top-100,000 ranked French words, the long-tail zone of technical, archaic, or low-frequency vocabulary, exactly where readers second-guess spellings most.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

charbon de bois is uncommon French outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed \ʃaʁ.bɔ̃ də bwa\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 4 senses are on record.

We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for charbon de bois, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. Our dataset records no confusable match here, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.

This entry carries no recorded etymology, leaving phoneme-to-grapheme mapping as the best guide to its spelling rather than a borrowing history. The correct French form is charbon de bois, spelled C-H-A-R-B-O-N- -D-E- -B-O-I-S.

Definition

  1. 1
    Bois duquel on a retiré l’humidité et toute matière végétale ou organique volatile, afin de ne laisser que le carbone et quelques minéraux.
  2. 2
    Combustible fabriqué artificiellement utilisé pour faire du feu.
  3. 3
    Médicament utilisé pour prévenir certaines pathologies.
  4. 4
    Outil de dessin.

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). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "charbon de bois"?
"charbon de bois" is spelled C-H-A-R-B-O-N- -D-E- -B-O-I-S. The IPA pronunciation is \ʃaʁ.bɔ̃ də bwa\.
What does "charbon de bois" mean?
As a noun, "charbon de bois" means: Bois duquel on a retiré l’humidité et toute matière végétale ou organique volatile, afin de ne laisser que le carbone et quelques minéraux.
How do you pronounce "charbon de bois"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "charbon de bois" is \ʃaʁ.bɔ̃ də bwa\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "charbon de bois" come from?
"charbon de bois" 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.

Using “charbon de bois”

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

  • The one correct French spelling is C-H-A-R-B-O-N- -D-E- -B-O-I-S - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as \ʃaʁ.bɔ̃ də bwa\ (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
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