cilice
French, noun/si.lis/
cilice is spelled C-I-L-I-C-E (6 letters) and appears about once in every 13 million words in written French, the 118,416th most frequent French word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Cilice is a French masculine noun meaning “cilice (garment or undergarment made of coarse cloth)” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire) defines it as “Espèce de plastron ou de large ceinture, qui est faite d’un tissu de poil de chèvre, de crin de cheval, ou de…”.
What does cilice mean in English?
noun
- 1
masculinecilice (garment or undergarment made of coarse cloth)
Source: English Wiktionary, French section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How French dictionaries define it
noun: 1. Espèce de plastron ou de large ceinture, qui est faite d’un tissu de poil de chèvre, de crin de cheval, ou de quelque autre poil rude et piquant, et que l’on porte sur la chair par mortification. 2. Quelque chose qui est la cause d’un ou plusieurs tourments.
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 cilice
- cilices plural
Source: English Wiktionary and French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire) (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
How do you pronounce cilice?
- /si.lis/
- \si.lis\
Sources: English Wiktionary, French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire) (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026); recordings from Wikimedia Commons.
How common is cilice in French?
cilice appears about once in every 13 million words in written French.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).