cheftaine
\ʃɛf.tɛn\
The verdict
“cheftaine” is uncommon French (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency French
- 9
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Jeune femme responsable d’une troupe de jeunes scouts.
Corpus desk
Index FR-cheftaine · cheftaine · French
cheftaine · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-LONG 9 letters
- VOW-4 4 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "C" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
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.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | cheftaine |
| Language | French |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | \ʃɛf.tɛn\ |
| Letters | 9 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Longue queue: rang de « cheftaine » en français
Rare enough to double-check
cheftaine is uncommon French outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed \ʃɛf.tɛn\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.
Zero misspellings are on record for cheftaine in our index, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable French rules. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.
No documented word history exists for this headword, so its spelling is easiest explained by how it's pronounced rather than where it came from. The correct French form is cheftaine, spelled C-H-E-F-T-A-I-N-E.
Definition
- 1Jeune femme responsable d’une troupe de jeunes scouts.
- 2Celle qui est à la tête d’un corps, d’une assemblée, etc., qui y a le premier rang et la principale autorité.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how cheftaine appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Une ancienne cheftaine d’éclaireuses, qui dissimulait une timidité de garçon sous des gestes brusques, dressa les listes, par ordre alphabétique.
Comme elle aimait marcher, qu’elle voulait tout voir de Paris et que ses jolies jambes avaient en leurs muscles des résistances insoupçonnées de cheftaine à lunettes, ils partaient le matin au petit bonheur des rues, droit devant eux.
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.