follicule

\fɔ.li.kyl\

/\fɔ.li.kyl\/ noun

The verdict

“follicule” is uncommon French (frequency #68,293 among 3,276 “F” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#68,293
frequency rank, French
3,276
“F” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Fruit sec déhiscent, formé par un carpelle isolé, se présentant comme une capsule contenant les graines de certaines plantes. Il a une seule fente de déhiscence.

Corpus desk

Index FR-follicule · follicule · French

follicule · rank #68,293 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #68,293
  • LEN-LONG 9 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,276
  • PHOTO-FINISH fourth

Nearest frequency peer: fourth (+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 « follicule »

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

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for follicule
PropertyValue
Headwordfollicule
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\fɔ.li.kyl\
Letters9
Frequency rank#68,293
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Longue queue: rang de « follicule » en français

De gauche à droite: le peu qui porte la parole quotidienne, puis la longue queue quasi invisible.folliculetombe 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: « fourth » (#68,294), « Fnaim » (#68,291), « fragrances » (#68,295). Parmi 3,276 lemmes en « F », « follicule » est au #68,293. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

follicule is uncommon French at frequency #68,293 among 3,276 “F” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed \fɔ.li.kyl\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 4 senses are on record.

follicule doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, suggesting the orthography follows predictable French patterns. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.

This headword's origin isn't recorded in our source data, so its spelling is easiest explained by how it's pronounced rather than where it came from. The correct French form is follicule, spelled F-O-L-L-I-C-U-L-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Fruit sec déhiscent, formé par un carpelle isolé, se présentant comme une capsule contenant les graines de certaines plantes. Il a une seule fente de déhiscence.
  2. 2
    Glande en forme de petit sac interne dans l’épaisseur d’un tégument.
  3. 3
    Cocon de ver à soie.
  4. 4
    Petit feuillet d’impression.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Les lésions de la fièvre typhoïde intéressent l'appareil lymphatique, depuis le tissu lymphoïde intestinal (follicules clos et plaques de Peyer) jusqu'aux ganglions mésentériques et à la rate.
  2. Beaucoup de gens pensent que les cicatrices ne représentent qu’un problème esthétique, mais "le tissu cicatriciel n'a pas de follicules pileux ni de glandes sudoripares, il est inflexible et plus faible que la peau."

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 "follicule"?
"follicule" is spelled F-O-L-L-I-C-U-L-E. The IPA pronunciation is \fɔ.li.kyl\.
What does "follicule" mean?
As a noun, "follicule" means: Fruit sec déhiscent, formé par un carpelle isolé, se présentant comme une capsule contenant les graines de certaines plantes. Il a une seule fente de déhiscence.
How do you pronounce "follicule"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "follicule" is \fɔ.li.kyl\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "follicule" come from?
"follicule" 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 "follicule", 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