embu
French, noun/ɑ̃.by/
embu is spelled E-M-B-U (4 letters) and appears about once in every 78 million words in written French, the 276,145th most frequent French word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Embu is a French masculine noun meaning “a dulling of gloss in a painted surface, caused by the absorption of oil by the support” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). It is also a past participle of emboire. The French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire) defines it as “Ternissement des couleurs sur un tableau”.
What does embu mean in English?
noun
- 1
masculinea dulling of gloss in a painted surface, caused by the absorption of oil by the support
- 2
masculineextra fabric deliberately allowed in a piece so that it can be eased into a seam
verb
- 1
past participle of emboire
Source: English Wiktionary, French section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How French dictionaries define it
noun: 1. Ternissement des couleurs sur un tableau. 2. Valeur de tissu à résorber (à boire) sur une pièce en vue de l'assemblage avec une autre ; cette opération vise à donner du volume à l'assemblage. 3. Langue bantoue parlée au Kenya.
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 embu
- embus plural
- embue feminine
- embues feminine plural
Source: English Wiktionary and French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire) (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
How do you pronounce embu?
- /ɑ̃.by/
- \ɑ̃.by\
Sources: English Wiktionary, French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire) (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026); recordings from Wikimedia Commons.
How common is embu in French?
embu appears about once in every 78 million words in written French.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).