empoigner

\ɑ̃.pwa.ɲe\

/\ɑ̃.pwa.ɲe\/ verb

The verdict

“empoigner” is uncommon French (frequency #78,382 among 3,255 “E” headwords), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#78,382
frequency rank, French
3,255
“E” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Prendre et serrer avec le poing.

Corpus desk

Index FR-empoigner · empoigner · French

empoigner · rank #78,382 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #78,382
  • LEN-LONG 9 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,255
  • PHOTO-FINISH empêchèrent

Nearest frequency peer: empêchèrent (+2 rank slots)

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.

Rangs de longue queue près de « empoigner »

Bande clairsemée: les barres inversent le rang pour que le rare se lise plus court

corpus weight

What this shows Vue de longue queue: où « empoigner » se situe face à des rangs français aussi rares.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for empoigner
PropertyValue
Headwordempoigner
LanguageFrench
Part of speechVerb
IPA\ɑ̃.pwa.ɲe\
Letters9
Frequency rank#78,382
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Longue queue: rang de « empoigner » en français

De gauche à droite: le peu qui porte la parole quotidienne, puis la longue queue quasi invisible.empoignertombe dans cette queue de rareté:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

L'échelle est logarithmique (chaque tic ≈ 10× plus rare). Voisins rares de la même bande: « empêchèrent » (#78,384), « empêchées » (#78,385), « encartés » (#78,386). Parmi 3,255 lemmes en « E », « empoigner » est au #78,382. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

empoigner is uncommon French at frequency #78,382 among 3,255 “E” headwords, classed as averb, transcribed \ɑ̃.pwa.ɲe\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 4 senses are on record.

The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for empoigner, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.

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 empoigner, spelled E-M-P-O-I-G-N-E-R.

Definition

  1. 1
    Prendre et serrer avec le poing.
  2. 2
    Saisir quelqu’un pour l’arrêter ou l’expulser d’un endroit.
  3. 3
    Attaquer ; quereller ; injurier.
  4. 4
    Saisir fortement, émouvoir profondément.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Au même instant, vous savez comme cela se pratique, j’empoignai la corde, je sautai sur ses épaules, et han! han! tout fut dit.
  2. Je vis assis, tel qu’un ange aux mains d'un barbier, Empoignant une chope à fortes cannelures, L’hypogastre et le col cambrés, une Gambier Aux dents, sous l’air gonflé d’impalpables voilures.

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); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 French corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "empoigner"?
"empoigner" is spelled E-M-P-O-I-G-N-E-R. The IPA pronunciation is \ɑ̃.pwa.ɲe\.
What does "empoigner" mean?
As a verb, "empoigner" means: Prendre et serrer avec le poing.
How do you pronounce "empoigner"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "empoigner" is \ɑ̃.pwa.ɲe\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "empoigner" come from?
"empoigner" 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.

Similar French words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "empoigner", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked French headwords with 9 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list