fond de cale
\fɔ̃ d‿kal\
The verdict
“fond de cale” is uncommon French (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency French
- 12
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Partie la plus basse dans l’intérieur d’un navire.
Corpus desk
Index FR-fond-de-cale · fond de cale · French
fond de cale · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-MEGA 12 letters
- VOW-4 4 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "F" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
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.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | fond de cale |
| Language | French |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | \fɔ̃ d‿kal\ |
| Letters | 12 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Longue queue: rang de « fond de cale » en français
Rare enough to double-check
fond de cale is uncommon French outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed \fɔ̃ d‿kal\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Partie la plus basse dans l’intérieur d’un navire.".
fond de cale doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.
This entry carries no recorded etymology, so any spelling logic here comes from how the word's sounds map to letters, not a documented origin story. The correct French form is fond de cale, spelled F-O-N-D- -D-E- -C-A-L-E.
Definition
- 1Partie la plus basse dans l’intérieur d’un navire.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how fond de cale appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Mais comme j’aimais la mer, une belle nuit, pendant que j’étais en congé à Brest, je me cachai à fond de cale d’un bâtiment marchand qui partait pour les Indes.
— Moi-même j’ai enfoui les pierres innombrables dans une valise qui a été ficelée et cachetée devant moi, que j’ai portée jusqu’au Havre, que j’ai mise à fond de cale dans le Ver-Luisant, et que j’ai retirée avant que l’on fasse sauter ce bateau.
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). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.