ciguë
\si.ɡy\
The verdict
“ciguë” is uncommon French (frequency #78,270 among 8,609 “C” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #78,270
- frequency rank, French
- 8,609
- “C” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Orthographe traditionnelle de cigüe : plante ombellifère dont certaines espèces sont très vénéneuses.
Corpus desk
Index FR-cigue · ciguë · French
ciguë · rank #78,270 · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-RARE #78,270
- LEN-MID 5 letters
- VOW-3 3 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-DENSE 8,609
- PHOTO-FINISH Châtenay
Nearest frequency peer: Châtenay (-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.
Rangs de longue queue près de « ciguë »
Bande clairsemée: les barres inversent le rang pour que le rare se lise plus court
- christiania
christiania
21,734 corpus weight
- Châtenay
Châtenay
21,732 corpus weight
- ciguë
ciguë
21,731 corpus weight
- ciselées
ciselées
21,730 corpus weight
- clasher
clasher
21,729 corpus weight
- clavière
clavière
21,728 corpus weight
What this shows Vue de longue queue: où « ciguë » se situe face à des rangs français aussi rares.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | ciguë |
| Language | French |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | \si.ɡy\ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #78,270 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Longue queue: rang de « ciguë » en français
Rare enough to double-check
ciguë is uncommon French at frequency #78,270 among 8,609 “C” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed \si.ɡy\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Orthographe traditionnelle de cigüe : plante ombellifère dont certaines espèces sont très vénéneuses.".
No generated misspelling entries exist for ciguë in our index, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable French rules. This headword has no recorded confusable partner, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.
No documented word history exists for this headword, so its spelling pattern is best understood through pronunciation rather than a traceable origin. The correct French form is ciguë, spelled C-I-G-U-Ë.
Definition
- 1Orthographe traditionnelle de cigüe : plante ombellifère dont certaines espèces sont très vénéneuses.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how ciguë appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Cependant, au point du jour, l'apothicaire de Sa Majesté entra dans ma chambre avec une potion mêlée de jusquiame, d'opium, de ciguë, d'ellébore noir et d'aconit.
Ainsi, ce garçon pieux et vertueux errait en dilettante sur les bords du crime, et tout en moissonnant les bons points et les tableaux d’honneur, il eût mérité vingt fois la ciguë de l’antique Socrate.
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); 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
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Similar French words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "ciguë", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked French headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).