gambe

\ɡɑ̃b\

/\ɡɑ̃b\/ noun

The verdict

“gambe” is uncommon French (frequency #92,770 among 2,617 “G” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#92,770
frequency rank, French
2,617
“G” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Ancien nom de la jambe, encore usité dans le mot viole de gambe. C’est un ancien instrument remplacé par le violoncelle et qu’on tenait comme lui entre les jambes.

Corpus desk

Index FR-gambe · gambe · French

gambe · rank #92,770 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #92,770
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,617
  • PHOTO-FINISH galvanisés

Nearest frequency peer: galvanisés (-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 « gambe »

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

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for gambe
PropertyValue
Headwordgambe
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\ɡɑ̃b\
Letters5
Frequency rank#92,770
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Longue queue: rang de « gambe » en français

La fréquence va de la poignée de mots du quotidien (gauche) à la longue queue presque jamais vue (droite).gambetombe dans cette queue de rareté:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

L'axe est logarithmique: chaque tic marque environ dix fois moins de fréquence. Voisins rares de la même bande: « galvanisés » (#92,769), « gaufrier » (#92,772), « galla » (#92,767). Parmi 2,617 lemmes en « G », « gambe » est au #92,770. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

gambe is uncommon French at frequency #92,770 among 2,617 “G” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed \ɡɑ̃b\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.

The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for gambe, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. No confusable counterpart is on file for this word, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.

This headword's origin isn't recorded in our source data, leaving phoneme-to-grapheme mapping as the best guide to its spelling rather than a borrowing history. The correct French form is gambe, spelled G-A-M-B-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Ancien nom de la jambe, encore usité dans le mot viole de gambe. C’est un ancien instrument remplacé par le violoncelle et qu’on tenait comme lui entre les jambes.
  2. 2
    Abréviation de viole de gambe.
  3. 3
    Gambe de revers : Filin dont un bout fait dormant sur le cercle de trélingage et l’autre sert de point d'attache au ridoir d’un hauban de dune ou de perroquet.

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

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

  1. Il passa en revue le trelingage, et s’assura que la bridure des bas haubans était en bon état et appuyait bien les gambes de hune, précaution d’un homme qui compte faire des témérités de vitesse.

Synonyms

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 "gambe"?
"gambe" is spelled G-A-M-B-E. The IPA pronunciation is \ɡɑ̃b\.
What does "gambe" mean?
As a noun, "gambe" means: Ancien nom de la jambe, encore usité dans le mot viole de gambe. C’est un ancien instrument remplacé par le violoncelle et qu’on tenait comme lui entre les jambes.
How do you pronounce "gambe"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "gambe" is \ɡɑ̃b\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "gambe" come from?
"gambe" 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.

Similar French words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "gambe", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked French headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list