galène

\ɡa.lɛn\

/\ɡa.lɛn\/ noun

The verdict

“galène” is uncommon French (frequency #84,827 among 2,617 “G” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#84,827
frequency rank, French
2,617
“G” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Espèce minérale composée de sulfure de plomb de formule brute PbS.

Corpus desk

Index FR-galene · galène · French

galène · rank #84,827 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #84,827
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,617
  • PHOTO-FINISH Gamache

Nearest frequency peer: Gamache (+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 « galène »

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

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for galène
PropertyValue
Headwordgalène
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\ɡa.lɛn\
Letters6
Frequency rank#84,827
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Longue queue: rang de « galène » en français

La fréquence va de la poignée de mots du quotidien (gauche) à la longue queue presque jamais vue (droite).galènetombe 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: « Gamache » (#84,828), « Galia » (#84,825), « Ganges » (#84,829). Parmi 2,617 lemmes en « G », « galène » est au #84,827. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

galène is uncommon French at frequency #84,827 among 2,617 “G” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed \ɡa.lɛn\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

Zero misspellings are on record for galène in our index, a sign its spelling follows regular French conventions. Our dataset records no confusable match here, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.

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 galène, spelled G-A-L-È-N-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Espèce minérale composée de sulfure de plomb de formule brute PbS.
  2. 2
    Diode à semiconducteur primitive faite à partir de ce minéral.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Le minerai de cette fondrière est souvent pyriteux et contient, dans sa masse, de la galène disséminée en petits fragments.
  2. Riche par la fertilité du sol, il l’est aussi de toute la fortune enfouie dans ses entrailles […] mines de Torotzko, qui produisent le plomb, la galène, le mercure, et surtout le fer, dont les gisements étaient exploités dès le Xᵉ siècle ;

Synonyms

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 "galène"?
"galène" is spelled G-A-L-È-N-E. The IPA pronunciation is \ɡa.lɛn\.
What does "galène" mean?
As a noun, "galène" means: Espèce minérale composée de sulfure de plomb de formule brute PbS.
How do you pronounce "galène"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "galène" is \ɡa.lɛn\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "galène" come from?
"galène" 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 "galène", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked French headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list