gabian

\ɡa.bjɑ̃\

/\ɡa.bjɑ̃\/ noun

The verdict

“gabian” is uncommon French (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency French
6
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Un des noms vulgaires du goéland leucophée.

Corpus desk

Index FR-gabian · gabian · French

gabian · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "G" 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.

Key facts for gabian
PropertyValue
Headwordgabian
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\ɡa.bjɑ̃\
Letters6
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “gabian” sits in French frequency

gabian falls outside the top-100,000 ranked French words, the long-tail zone of technical, archaic, or low-frequency vocabulary, exactly where readers second-guess spellings most.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

gabian is uncommon French outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed \ɡa.bjɑ̃\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.

No misspelling variants are generated for gabian in our index, a sign its spelling follows regular French conventions. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.

No explicit etymology string is stored for this entry, so its spelling is easiest to reason about phoneme by phoneme, absent a documented history. The correct French form is gabian, spelled G-A-B-I-A-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    Un des noms vulgaires du goéland leucophée.
  2. 2
    Synonyme de douanier ou de gabelou, par extension, synonyme de gendarme et parfois (peut-être par dérision) synonyme de voleur.
  3. 3
    (Ancien) Huile (pétrole) extrait du village de Gabian.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Le gabian, en provençal, est le goéland (qui a un gros cou).
  2. Des gabians se sont posés sur le trottoir et dévorent un sandwich qui a été jeté.

Synonyms

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.

PlainSpell is rendered directly from structured Wiktionary extracts and open word-frequency lists, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of May 6, 2026. Primary sources: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) and FrequencyWords.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "gabian"?
"gabian" is spelled G-A-B-I-A-N. The IPA pronunciation is \ɡa.bjɑ̃\.
What does "gabian" mean?
As a noun, "gabian" means: Un des noms vulgaires du goéland leucophée.
How do you pronounce "gabian"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "gabian" is \ɡa.bjɑ̃\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "gabian" come from?
"gabian" 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.
Data Source

Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list