Cherbourg-en-Cotentin

\ʃɛʁ.buʁ.ɑ̃.kɔ.tɑ̃.tɛ̃\

/\ʃɛʁ.buʁ.ɑ̃.kɔ.tɑ̃.tɛ̃\/ name

The verdict

“Cherbourg-en-Cotentin” is uncommon French (outside the top frequency list), classed as a proper noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency French
21
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Commune française, située dans le département de la Manche.

Corpus desk

Index FR-cherbourg-en-cotentin · Cherbourg-en-Cotentin · French

Cherbourg-en-Cotentin · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-MEGA 21 letters
  • VOW-7 7 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.

Key facts for Cherbourg-en-Cotentin
PropertyValue
HeadwordCherbourg-en-Cotentin
LanguageFrench
Part of speechProper noun
IPA\ʃɛʁ.buʁ.ɑ̃.kɔ.tɑ̃.tɛ̃\
Letters21
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “Cherbourg-en-Cotentin” sits in French frequency

Cherbourg-en-Cotentin 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

Cherbourg-en-Cotentin is uncommon French outside the top frequency list, classed as aproper noun, transcribed \ʃɛʁ.buʁ.ɑ̃.kɔ.tɑ̃.tɛ̃\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Commune française, située dans le département de la Manche.".

Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for Cherbourg-en-Cotentin, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.

This headword's origin isn't recorded in our source data, 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 Cherbourg-en-Cotentin, spelled C-H-E-R-B-O-U-R-G---E-N---C-O-T-E-N-T-I-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    Commune française, située dans le département de la Manche.

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

These source excerpts show how Cherbourg-en-Cotentin appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Ainsi, le maire de Combe administrait le vie de 17 habitants et celui de Molpré celle de 22 habitants ! À l'inverse, la nouvelle commune la plus importante se situe dans la Manche. En fusionnant avec ses quatre voisines, Cherbourg-Octeville, rebaptisé Cherbourg-en-Cotentin, rassemble presque 82.000 habitants.

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.

PlainSpell is rendered directly from structured Wiktionary extracts and open word-frequency lists, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of May 6, 2026. Primary sources: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) and FrequencyWords.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "Cherbourg-en-Cotentin"?
"Cherbourg-en-Cotentin" is spelled C-H-E-R-B-O-U-R-G---E-N---C-O-T-E-N-T-I-N. The IPA pronunciation is \ʃɛʁ.buʁ.ɑ̃.kɔ.tɑ̃.tɛ̃\.
What does "Cherbourg-en-Cotentin" mean?
As a proper noun, "Cherbourg-en-Cotentin" means: Commune française, située dans le département de la Manche.
How do you pronounce "Cherbourg-en-Cotentin"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "Cherbourg-en-Cotentin" is \ʃɛʁ.buʁ.ɑ̃.kɔ.tɑ̃.tɛ̃\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "Cherbourg-en-Cotentin" come from?
"Cherbourg-en-Cotentin" 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.
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