esse

\ɛs\

/\ɛs\/ noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

The verdict

“esse” is uncommon French (frequency #53,938 among 3,255 “E” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#53,938
frequency rank, French
3,255
“E” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Lettre latine S, s.

Corpus desk

Index FR-esse · esse · French

esse · rank #53,938 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #53,938
  • LEN-MID 4 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,255
  • PHOTO-FINISH espadon

Nearest frequency peer: espadon (-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 « esse »

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

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for esse
PropertyValue
Headwordesse
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\ɛs\
Letters4
Frequency rank#53,938
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Longue queue: rang de « esse » en français

La fréquence va de la poignée de mots du quotidien (gauche) à la longue queue presque jamais vue (droite).essetombe 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: « espadon » (#53,937), « essoufflée » (#53,939), « errances » (#53,935). Parmi 3,255 lemmes en « E », « esse » est au #53,938. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

esse is uncommon French at frequency #53,938 among 3,255 “E” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed \ɛs\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 9 senses are on record.

No generated misspelling entries exist for esse in our index, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.

No borrowing history is documented for this entry, leaving phoneme-to-grapheme mapping as the best guide to its spelling rather than a borrowing history. The correct French form is esse, spelled E-S-S-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Lettre latine S, s.
  2. 2
    Instrument en forme de S.
  3. 3
    Conduite en forme de S, permettant d’assurer la mise hors-gel.
  4. 4
    Cheville de fer tordue, faite à peu près en forme d’S, qu’on met au bout de l’essieu d’une voiture, pour empêcher que la roue n’en sorte.
  5. 5
    Crochet auquel sont suspendus les plateaux au fléau d’une balance.
  6. 6
    Crochet aux extrémités effilées servant à suspendre des quartiers de viande.
  7. 7
    Crochet qui sert à élever les pierres pour la construction d’un édifice.
  8. 8
    Chacune des ouïes de la table d’harmonie des instruments de la famille du violon.
  9. 9
    Lame de métal percée de trous de différents diamètres, destinée à tester le calibre des fils de fer. → voir esser

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. J’avais oublié le cran d’arrêt : je pèse sur cette languette amovible qui poussée en arrière découvre une lettre majuscule gravée, une esse, initiale du mot sûreté.
  2. L’esse de raccordement d’une bouche incendie.

This word in other languages

ess(English)es(Deutsch)

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 "esse"?
"esse" is spelled E-S-S-E. The IPA pronunciation is \ɛs\.
What does "esse" mean?
As a noun, "esse" means: Lettre latine S, s.
How do you pronounce "esse"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "esse" is \ɛs\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "esse" come from?
"esse" is a French word. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for this and other words across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German on PlainSpell.
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 "esse", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked French headwords with 4 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

ecce#53,924geai#53,973glow#53,980guru#53,991

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list