drille

\dʁij\

/\dʁij\/ noun

The verdict

“drille” is uncommon French (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. 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) - Soldat vagabond, soudard.

Corpus desk

Index FR-drille · drille · French

drille · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "D" 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 drille
PropertyValue
Headworddrille
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\dʁij\
Letters6
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Longue queue: rang de « drille » en français

drillesiège 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

drille is uncommon French outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed \dʁij\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for drille, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. This headword has no recorded confusable partner, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.

This entry carries no recorded etymology, so its spelling is best explained by sound-to-letter mapping rather than etymology. The correct French form is drille, spelled D-R-I-L-L-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Soldat vagabond, soudard.
  2. 2
    Bonhomme, compagnon. Ne s’emploie aujourd’hui que dans les locutions suivantes :

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Sur le champ, il boucla son armure, sauta en selle, choisit quelques cent cinquante petits drilles et, dans un grand fracas de gongs et de tambours, tous descendirent de la montagne vers le village de la famille Shi.
  2. Un bon ou joyeux drille est un bon compagnon, un homme jovial.

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 "drille"?
"drille" is spelled D-R-I-L-L-E. The IPA pronunciation is \dʁij\.
What does "drille" mean?
As a noun, "drille" means: Soldat vagabond, soudard.
How do you pronounce "drille"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "drille" is \dʁij\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "drille" come from?
"drille" is a French word. PlainSpell's reference spans five languages -- English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German -- with definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for each.
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