chenille
French, noun/ʃə.nij/
chenille is spelled C-H-E-N-I-L-L-E (8 letters) and appears 2.0 times per million words in written French, the 20,671st most frequent French word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Chenille is a French feminine noun meaning “caterpillar” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire) defines it as “Stade larvaire de certains insectes”.
What does chenille mean in English?
noun
- 1
femininecaterpillar
- 2
femininechenille
- 3
femininecaterpillar track, snow chain
- 4
femininewhirligig (fairground attraction)
Source: English Wiktionary, French section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How French dictionaries define it
noun: 1. Stade larvaire de certains insectes. 2. Larve dont le corps cylindrique est formé de douze anneaux, doté de six pattes à l’avant et de pseudopodes à l’arrière. → voir chenille processionnaire 3. Ver à soie. 4. Dispositif d’avancement continu.
adjective: 1. Équipé de chenilles.
The definition in the French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire), in French.
Source: French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire), dump of September 1, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org.
Forms of chenille
- chenilles plural
- chenillés plural masculine
- chenillée singular feminine
- chenillées plural feminine
Source: English Wiktionary and French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire) (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
How do you pronounce chenille?
- /ʃə.nij/
- /ʃnij/
- Quebec /ʃə.nɪj/
Sources: English Wiktionary, French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire) (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026); recordings from Wikimedia Commons.
English words that translate to chenille
Source: the translation tables of the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026.
How common is chenille in French?
chenille appears 2.0 times per million words in written French.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).