clepsydre
\klɛp.sidʁ\
The verdict
“clepsydre” is uncommon French (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency French
- 9
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Horloge qui indique la marche du temps par l’écoulement d’une certaine quantité d’eau.
Corpus desk
Index FR-clepsydre · clepsydre · French
clepsydre · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-LONG 9 letters
- VOW-3 3 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.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | clepsydre |
| Language | French |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | \klɛp.sidʁ\ |
| Letters | 9 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Longue queue: rang de « clepsydre » en français
Rare enough to double-check
clepsydre is uncommon French outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed \klɛp.sidʁ\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Horloge qui indique la marche du temps par l’écoulement d’une certaine quantité d’eau.".
We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for clepsydre, a sign its spelling follows regular French conventions. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.
No documented word history exists for this headword, so its spelling is easiest explained by how it's pronounced rather than where it came from. The correct French form is clepsydre, spelled C-L-E-P-S-Y-D-R-E.
Definition
- 1Horloge qui indique la marche du temps par l’écoulement d’une certaine quantité d’eau.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how clepsydre appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Les anciens se servaient ordinairement de clepsydres pour mesurer le temps.
Mais Daniel Soutif, directeur du développement culturel du Centre et commissaire de l’exposition, tenait au symbole : la clepsydre est l’un des plus anciens instruments de mesure du temps et elle réunit deux notions, « l’écoulement continu », celui de l’eau qu'elle contient, et sa graduation, « tentative de réduire ce flux au commensurable ».
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.