escarpement

\ɛs.kaʁ.pə.mɑ̃\

/\ɛs.kaʁ.pə.mɑ̃\/ noun

The verdict

“escarpement” is uncommon French (frequency #54,566 among 3,255 “E” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#54,566
frequency rank, French
3,255
“E” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Pente raide.

Corpus desk

Index FR-escarpement · escarpement · French

escarpement · rank #54,566 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #54,566
  • LEN-MEGA 11 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,255
  • PHOTO-FINISH erf

Nearest frequency peer: erf (-1 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 « escarpement »

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 « escarpement » se situe face à des rangs français aussi rares.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for escarpement
PropertyValue
Headwordescarpement
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\ɛs.kaʁ.pə.mɑ̃\
Letters11
Frequency rank#54,566
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Longue queue: rang de « escarpement » en français

Cette échelle va du noyau du français courant (gauche) jusqu'à la traîne des formes rares (droite).escarpementtombe dans cette queue de rareté:

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

Les tics avancent en logarithme; chacun est de l'ordre de dix fois plus rare. Voisins rares de la même bande: « erf » (#54,565), « essential » (#54,568), « estompent » (#54,569). Parmi 3,255 lemmes en « E », « escarpement » est au #54,566. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

escarpement is uncommon French at frequency #54,566 among 3,255 “E” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed \ɛs.kaʁ.pə.mɑ̃\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for escarpement, suggesting the orthography follows predictable French patterns. This headword has no recorded confusable partner, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.

No documented word history exists for this headword, so its spelling pattern is best understood through pronunciation rather than a traceable origin. The correct French form is escarpement, spelled E-S-C-A-R-P-E-M-E-N-T.

Definition

  1. 1
    Pente raide.
  2. 2
    État de ce qui est escarpé, pente raide.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Sur l’escarpement voisin de la verticale, croissent dans les fentes ou les petits replats ménagés par la cassure géométrique de la roche […]
  2. La route nationale de Nîmes à Mende m’amène à Anduze, un chef-lieu de canton de l’arrondissement d’Alès, encaissé entre les escarpements dont la base se verdit d’oliviers.

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 "escarpement"?
"escarpement" is spelled E-S-C-A-R-P-E-M-E-N-T. The IPA pronunciation is \ɛs.kaʁ.pə.mɑ̃\.
What does "escarpement" mean?
As a noun, "escarpement" means: Pente raide.
How do you pronounce "escarpement"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "escarpement" is \ɛs.kaʁ.pə.mɑ̃\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "escarpement" come from?
"escarpement" 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.

Similar French words by spelling shape

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

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked French headwords with 11 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list