cheval de frise

\ʃə.val də fʁiz\

/\ʃə.val də fʁiz\/ noun

The verdict

“cheval de frise” 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) - Aidé par le capitaine, il fit abattre une énorme quantité d’arbres afin de former un solide retranchement hérissé de chevaux de frise. — (Gustave Aimard, Les Trappeurs de l’Arkansas, Éditions Amyot...

Key facts for cheval de frise
PropertyValue
Headwordcheval de frise
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\ʃə.val də fʁiz\
Letters15
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “cheval de frise” sits in French frequency

cheval de frise 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

cheval de frise is uncommon French outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed \ʃə.val də fʁiz\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for cheval de frise, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.

This entry carries no recorded etymology, so any spelling logic here comes from how the word's sounds map to letters, not a documented origin story. The correct French form is cheval de frise, spelled C-H-E-V-A-L- -D-E- -F-R-I-S-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Aidé par le capitaine, il fit abattre une énorme quantité d’arbres afin de former un solide retranchement hérissé de chevaux de frise. — (Gustave Aimard, Les Trappeurs de l’Arkansas, Éditions Amyot, Paris, 1858)
  2. 2
    Grosse pièce de bois ou de métal, hérissée de pointes, pour faire barrage.

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 "cheval de frise"?
"cheval de frise" is spelled C-H-E-V-A-L- -D-E- -F-R-I-S-E. The IPA pronunciation is \ʃə.val də fʁiz\.
What does "cheval de frise" mean?
As a noun, "cheval de frise" means: Aidé par le capitaine, il fit abattre une énorme quantité d’arbres afin de former un solide retranchement hérissé de chevaux de frise. — (Gustave Aimard, Les Trappeurs de l’Arkansas, Éditions Amyot...
How do you pronounce "cheval de frise"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "cheval de frise" is \ʃə.val də fʁiz\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "cheval de frise" come from?
"cheval de frise" 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 “cheval de frise”

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

  • The one correct French spelling is C-H-E-V-A-L- -D-E- -F-R-I-S-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as \ʃə.val də fʁiz\ (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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list