jouissance
French, noun/ʒwi.sɑ̃s/
jouissance is spelled J-O-U-I-S-S-A-N-C-E (10 letters) and appears 3.2 times per million words in written French, the 15,330th most frequent French word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Jouissance is a French feminine noun meaning “use, possession, enjoyment” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire) defines it as “Satisfaction voluptueuse, éprouvée tantôt par les sens, tantôt par l’âme ou l’esprit”.
What does jouissance mean in English?
noun
- 1
feminineuse, possession, enjoyment
- 2
feminineenjoyment, deep pleasure
- 3
femininesexual pleasure, sensual delight; orgasm, climax
Source: English Wiktionary, French section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How French dictionaries define it
noun: 1. Satisfaction voluptueuse, éprouvée tantôt par les sens, tantôt par l’âme ou l’esprit. 2. Plaisir né de la relation sexuelle épanouie. 3. Possession d’une chose dont on tire des profits, des avantages, etc.
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 jouissance
- jouissances plural
Source: English Wiktionary and French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire) (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
How do you pronounce jouissance?
- /ʒwi.sɑ̃s/
- \ʒwi.sɑ̃s\
Sources: English Wiktionary, French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire) (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026); recordings from Wikimedia Commons.
English words that translate to jouissance
Source: the translation tables of the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026.
How common is jouissance in French?
jouissance appears 3.2 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).