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cire

French, noun

cire is spelled C-I-R-E (4 letters) and appears 6.2 times per million words in written French, the 9,615th most frequent French word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Cire is a French feminine noun meaning “wax” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). It is also a first/third-person singular present indicative/subjunctive of cirer. With an accent, ciré is a different word: “oilskin”. The French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire) defines it as “Ester d'éthylène glycol et d’acides gras”.

What does cire mean in English?

noun

  1. 1

    femininewax

  2. 2

    femininebeeswax

  3. 3

    feminineearwax

  4. 4

    femininesealing wax

  5. 5

    femininetaper (wax candle)

  6. 6

    femininecere

verb

  1. 1

    first/third-person singular present indicative/subjunctive

  2. 2

    second-person singular imperative

adjective

as ciré
  1. 1

    oiled

noun

as ciré
  1. 1

    masculineoilskin

verb

as ciré
  1. 1

    past participle of cirer

Source: English Wiktionary, French section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).

How French dictionaries define it

noun: 1. Ester d'éthylène glycol et d’acides gras. 2. Matière molle, très fusible et jaunâtre, avec laquelle les abeilles construisent les gâteaux de leurs ruches et qu’on emploie à différents usages, dans les arts, dans l’économie domestique, etc. 3. Produit ménager, parfois à base de cire d’abeille, utilisé pour entretenir et faire briller les objets en bois. 4. Matière plastique à chaud et rigide à froid.

adjective: 1. Qui est recouvert de cire, de cirage.

noun: 1. Manteau imperméable fait initialement de tissu huilé, à présent fait de tissu plastifié.

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 cire

  • cirée feminine
  • cirés masculine plural
  • cirées feminine plural
  • cires plural

Source: English Wiktionary and French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire) (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).

English words that translate to cire

Source: the translation tables of the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026.

How common is cire in French?

cire appears 6.2 times per million words in written French.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

What to look up after cire