cordon sanitaire

\kɔʁ.dɔ̃ sa.ni.tɛʁ\

/\kɔʁ.dɔ̃ sa.ni.tɛʁ\/ noun

The verdict

“cordon sanitaire” is uncommon French (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency French
16
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Espace contrôlé en vue de surveiller les accès à une zone où sévit une épidémie.

Corpus desk

Index FR-cordon-sanitaire · cordon sanitaire · French

cordon sanitaire · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-MEGA 16 letters
  • VOW-7 7 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 cordon sanitaire
PropertyValue
Headwordcordon sanitaire
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\kɔʁ.dɔ̃ sa.ni.tɛʁ\
Letters16
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Longue queue: rang de « cordon sanitaire » en français

cordon sanitairen'entre pas dans le top 100.000 du français: zone de termes techniques, archaïques ou rares.

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

Rare enough to double-check

cordon sanitaire is uncommon French outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed \kɔʁ.dɔ̃ sa.ni.tɛʁ\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.

We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for cordon sanitaire, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.

This headword's origin isn't recorded in our source data, so spelling patterns must be inferred from the word's phoneme-to-grapheme mapping rather than from a documented borrowing chain. The correct French form is cordon sanitaire, spelled C-O-R-D-O-N- -S-A-N-I-T-A-I-R-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Espace contrôlé en vue de surveiller les accès à une zone où sévit une épidémie.
  2. 2
    Pays situés à l’ouest de la Russie soviétique, considérés après la Première Guerre mondiale comme une protection en isolant la Russie de l’Europe occidentale : Finlande, Pays baltes, Pologne et Roumanie (ou autre situation analogue).
  3. 3
    Pratique politique et doctrine consistant à ne pas s'allier un parti jugé infréquentable et dangereux.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Quant aux salles "spécialement équipées", il les connaissait : deux pavillons hâtivement déménagés de leurs autres malades, leurs fenêtres calfeutrées, entourés d’un cordon sanitaire.
  2. La peste s’étant déclarée dans les provinces voisines, on établit un cordon sanitaire, pour empêcher les communications.

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 "cordon sanitaire"?
"cordon sanitaire" is spelled C-O-R-D-O-N- -S-A-N-I-T-A-I-R-E. The IPA pronunciation is \kɔʁ.dɔ̃ sa.ni.tɛʁ\.
What does "cordon sanitaire" mean?
As a noun, "cordon sanitaire" means: Espace contrôlé en vue de surveiller les accès à une zone où sévit une épidémie.
How do you pronounce "cordon sanitaire"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "cordon sanitaire" is \kɔʁ.dɔ̃ sa.ni.tɛʁ\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "cordon sanitaire" come from?
"cordon sanitaire" is a French word. PlainSpell covers definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German.
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