gaine
French, noun
gaine is spelled G-A-I-N-E (5 letters) and appears 1.5 times per million words in written French, the 24,887th most frequent French word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Gaine is a French feminine noun meaning “sheath, scabbard (for dagger etc.)” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). It is also a first/third-person singular present indicative/subjunctive of gainer. With an accent, gainé is a different word: “past participle of gainer”. The French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire) defines it as “Étui de couteau, fourreau d’arme blanche ou autre instrument servant à couper, à percer, etc”.
What does gaine mean in English?
noun
- 1
femininesheath, scabbard (for dagger etc.)
- 2
femininecasing, sheathing, sheath (of a cable)
- 3
femininesheath
verb
- 1
first/third-person singular present indicative/subjunctive
- 2
second-person singular imperative
verb
- 1
past participle of gainer
Source: English Wiktionary, French section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How French dictionaries define it
noun: 1. Étui de couteau, fourreau d’arme blanche ou autre instrument servant à couper, à percer, etc. 2. Partie qui sert d’enveloppe à d’autres. 3. Pièce de lingerie féminine destinée à affiner la silhouette. 4. Sorte de tuyau que la base de certaines feuilles forme autour de la tige ; tube que les étamines ou anthères de certaines plantes forment autour du pistil, en se soudant les unes aux autres.
noun: 1. Variante orthographique de gaine.
The definition in the French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire), in French.
Source: French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire), dump of September 1, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org.
Forms of gaine
- gaines plural
- gainée feminine
- gainés masculine plural
- gainées feminine plural
- gaîne
Source: English Wiktionary and French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire) (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
English words that translate to gaine
Source: the translation tables of the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026.
How common is gaine in French?
gaine appears 1.5 times per million words in written French.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).