imbrication

\ɛ̃.bʁi.ka.sjɔ̃\

/\ɛ̃.bʁi.ka.sjɔ̃\/ noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

The verdict

“imbrication” is uncommon French (frequency #60,871 among 3,561 “I” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#60,871
frequency rank, French
3,561
“I” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Action d’imbriquer ou résultat de cette action.

Corpus desk

Index FR-imbrication · imbrication · French

imbrication · rank #60,871 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #60,871
  • LEN-MEGA 11 letters
  • VOW-5 5 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,561
  • PHOTO-FINISH imaginative

Nearest frequency peer: imaginative (-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 « imbrication »

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

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for imbrication
PropertyValue
Headwordimbrication
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\ɛ̃.bʁi.ka.sjɔ̃\
Letters11
Frequency rank#60,871
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Longue queue: rang de « imbrication » en français

La fréquence va de la poignée de mots du quotidien (gauche) à la longue queue presque jamais vue (droite).imbricationtombe 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: « imaginative » (#60,870), « imposez » (#60,872), « Illyrie » (#60,869). Parmi 3,561 lemmes en « I », « imbrication » est au #60,871. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

imbrication is uncommon French at frequency #60,871 among 3,561 “I” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed \ɛ̃.bʁi.ka.sjɔ̃\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.

We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for imbrication, a sign its spelling follows regular French conventions. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.

Wiktionary doesn't record an etymology for this headword, so its spelling is best explained by sound-to-letter mapping rather than etymology. The correct French form is imbrication, spelled I-M-B-R-I-C-A-T-I-O-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    Action d’imbriquer ou résultat de cette action.
  2. 2
    Type de décor, d’ornementation qui ressemble plus ou moins à des écailles de poisson et qui est typique de l’art roman
  3. 3
    Décor, dessin géométriques réalisés à l'aide de briques et/ou de pierres de couleurs variées.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Le dernier étage, mansardé, avait comme revêtement, entre chaque croisée, une savante imbrication d’ardoises ; au second, ces revêtements étaient en chêne simulant des écailles.
  2. C’est comme un long-métrage mais sur scène, une imbrication totale de la danse, du théâtre et du cinéma.

This word in other languages

imbrication(English)

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 "imbrication"?
"imbrication" is spelled I-M-B-R-I-C-A-T-I-O-N. The IPA pronunciation is \ɛ̃.bʁi.ka.sjɔ̃\.
What does "imbrication" mean?
As a noun, "imbrication" means: Action d’imbriquer ou résultat de cette action.
How do you pronounce "imbrication"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "imbrication" is \ɛ̃.bʁi.ka.sjɔ̃\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "imbrication" come from?
"imbrication" is a French word. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for this and other words across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German on PlainSpell.
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 "imbrication", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked French headwords with 11 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

imaginative#60,870interarmées#60,882handicapant#60,849fétichistes#60,808

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list