garde-corps
\ɡaʁd(ə).kɔʁ\
The verdict
“garde-corps” is outside the top-ranked French vocabulary, used as a noun - the kind of word writers most often double-check.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency French
- 11
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Barrière destinée à empêcher de tomber, garde-fou (balcon, pont, terrasse, etc.)
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | garde-corps |
| Language | French |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | \ɡaʁd(ə).kɔʁ\ |
| Letters | 11 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “garde-corps” sits in French frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The French entry for garde-corps is 11 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as \ɡaʁd(ə).kɔʁ\. It sits outside the most-frequent rank tiers, which is often why uncommon words generate more spelling variants per reader. Wiktionary records 2 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
garde-corps has no tracked misspelling variants, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable French rules. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.
Wiktionary doesn't record an etymology for this headword, leaving phoneme-to-grapheme mapping as the best guide to its spelling rather than a borrowing history. The correct French form is garde-corps, spelled G-A-R-D-E---C-O-R-P-S.
Definition
- 1Barrière destinée à empêcher de tomber, garde-fou (balcon, pont, terrasse, etc.)
- 2Balustrade qui garnit les bords d’un navire.
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.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Using “garde-corps”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct French spelling is G-A-R-D-E---C-O-R-P-S - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as \ɡaʁd(ə).kɔʁ\ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Browse more French words and confusable pairs in the same reference. French words
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.