cipaye

\si.paj\

/\si.paj\/ adj

The verdict

“cipaye” is uncommon French (outside the top frequency list), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency French
6
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Relatif aux mercenaires (ou soldats réguliers) hindous au service d’une armée occidentale (britannique, française ou portugaise) à l’époque de la colonisation de l’Inde.

Corpus desk

Index FR-cipaye · cipaye · French

cipaye · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-4 4 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 cipaye
PropertyValue
Headwordcipaye
LanguageFrench
Part of speechAdjective
IPA\si.paj\
Letters6
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Longue queue: rang de « cipaye » en français

cipayesiège au-delà des 100.000 formes les plus fréquentes du français, dans la traîne du lexique spécialisé ou peu usité.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

cipaye is uncommon French outside the top frequency list, classed as anadjective, transcribed \si.paj\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Relatif aux mercenaires (ou soldats réguliers) hindous au service d’une armée occidentale (britannique, française ou portugaise) à l’époque de la colonisation de l’Inde.".

cipaye has no tracked misspelling variants, suggesting the orthography follows predictable French patterns. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.

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 cipaye, spelled C-I-P-A-Y-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Relatif aux mercenaires (ou soldats réguliers) hindous au service d’une armée occidentale (britannique, française ou portugaise) à l’époque de la colonisation de l’Inde.

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

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

  1. Vous irez prendre aussitôt le commandement des 13ᵉ, 15ᵉ et 31ᵉ régiments d’infanterie européenne, que sir William Maxwell, gouverneur de Bombay, mettra sous vos ordres avec quatre ou cinq régiments de cavalerie indigène et d’infanterie cipaye.

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 "cipaye"?
"cipaye" is spelled C-I-P-A-Y-E. The IPA pronunciation is \si.paj\.
What does "cipaye" mean?
As an adjective, "cipaye" means: Relatif aux mercenaires (ou soldats réguliers) hindous au service d’une armée occidentale (britannique, française ou portugaise) à l’époque de la colonisation de l’Inde.
How do you pronounce "cipaye"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "cipaye" is \si.paj\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "cipaye" come from?
"cipaye" 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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list