ciel

\sjɛl\

/\sjɛl\/ noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

The verdict

“ciel” has 5 generated spelling variants in the French index at frequency #1,085. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#1,085
frequency rank, French
8,609
“C” headwords
5
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Espace immense dans lequel se meuvent tous les astres.

Corpus desk

Index FR-ciel · ciel · French

ciel · rank #1,085 · 5 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #1,085
  • LEN-MID 4 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 5 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 8,609
  • PHOTO-FINISH bref

Nearest frequency peer: bref (-1 rank slots)

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.

Pairs de rang près de l'aimant d'erreurs « ciel »

Même bande de rareté: utile si une faute tombe sur un lemme voisin

corpus weight

What this shows « ciel » siège parmi ces pairs FrequencyWords; la profondeur des fautes est suivie à part dans le graphique d'édition.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

ciel vs Cl
25% similar
ciel vs cul
50% similar
ciel vs clé
25% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for ciel
PropertyValue
Headwordciel
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\sjɛl\
Letters4
Frequency rank#1,085
Misspellings tracked5
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Fréquence de l'aimant d'erreurs « ciel »

La fréquence va de la poignée de mots du quotidien (gauche) à la longue queue presque jamais vue (droite).cielse place ici:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

L'échelle est logarithmique (chaque tic ≈ 10× plus rare). Dans la même bande de rareté figurent « bref » (#1,084), « clair » (#1,086), « absolument » (#1,083). Parmi 8,609 lemmes en « C », « ciel » est au #1,085. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 5 spelling variants around ciel (IPA \sjɛl\), anoun. Corpus frequency is #1,085 among 8,609 “C” headwords. Wiktionary lists 9 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 5 likely wrong-spelling variants for ciel, with forms such as "cciel", "ceil", and "ciell". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "Cl", "cul", "clé", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Wiktionary doesn't record an etymology for this headword, 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 ciel, spelled C-I-E-L.

Definition

  1. 1
    Espace immense dans lequel se meuvent tous les astres.
  2. 2
    Partie de l'univers qui apparaît comme une voûte en demi-sphère au-dessus de nos têtes.
  3. 3
    Chacun des cercles concentriques à la terre où, suivant les anciens, se mouvaient les planètes et les étoiles.
  4. 4
    La partie visible de l'univers considérée selon les divers aspects que lui donnent les changements atmosphériques.
  5. 5
    Ambiance.
  6. 6
    Climat, pays.
  7. 7
    Séjour des bienheureux, paradis.
  8. 8
    Divinité ; providence.
  9. 9
    Voûte de la galerie d’une mine ou d’une carrière souterraine.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Cicéron a dit que Socrate fit descendre la philosophie du ciel, et la tradition rapporte que Confucius n’aimait pas à parler du ciel et de la nature.
  2. Par la fenêtre entr’ouverte, l’air entrait, gonflant comme une voile les rideaux de mousseline, et j’apercevais un pan de ciel bleu […]

Synonyms

atmosphèreazurcosmosfirmamentvoûtezénith

Antonyms

terresol

This word in other languages

sky(English)cielo(Español)Himmel(Deutsch)céu(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • cciel
  • ceil
  • ciell
  • cile
  • icel

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of ciel - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.

cciel1ceil2ciell1cile2icel2
Edit distance from "ciel"

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 French corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "ciel"?
"ciel" is spelled C-I-E-L. The IPA pronunciation is \sjɛl\.
What does "ciel" mean?
As a noun, "ciel" means: Espace immense dans lequel se meuvent tous les astres.
What words are commonly confused with "ciel"?
"ciel" is commonly confused with "Cl", "cul", "clé". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "ciel"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "ciel" is \sjɛl\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "ciel" come from?
"ciel" 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.

Similar French words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "ciel", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked French headwords with 4 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

bref#1,084sert#1,073York#1,102anti#1,105

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (5 here; floor ≥5).

juge5 variantscrise5 variantsvote5 variantsneuf5 variants

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list