kernel

\kɛʁ.nɛl\

/\kɛʁ.nɛl\/ noun

The verdict

“kernel” is uncommon French (frequency #55,397 among 737 “K” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#55,397
frequency rank, French
737
“K” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Noyau de système d'exploitation.

Corpus desk

Index FR-kernel · kernel · French

kernel · rank #55,397 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #55,397
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 737
  • PHOTO-FINISH kawa

Nearest frequency peer: kawa (-2 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 « kernel »

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

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for kernel
PropertyValue
Headwordkernel
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\kɛʁ.nɛl\
Letters6
Frequency rank#55,397
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Longue queue: rang de « kernel » en français

De gauche à droite: le peu qui porte la parole quotidienne, puis la longue queue quasi invisible.kerneltombe 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: « kawa » (#55,395), « Kouachi » (#55,399), « karité » (#55,394). Parmi 737 lemmes en « K », « kernel » est au #55,397. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

kernel is uncommon French at frequency #55,397 among 737 “K” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed \kɛʁ.nɛl\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Noyau de système d'exploitation.".

The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for kernel, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. 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, so its spelling is easiest explained by how it's pronounced rather than where it came from. The correct French form is kernel, spelled K-E-R-N-E-L.

Definition

  1. 1
    Noyau de système d'exploitation.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Les Mac Pro 2010 démarrent par défaut avec le kernel en 64 bits
  2. Puis l’équipe a découvert Multipath TCP (MPTCP), une extension du protocole TCP disponible sous forme de patch du kernel Linux, sur laquelle travaille l’Université Catholique de Louvain, en Belgique.

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 "kernel"?
"kernel" is spelled K-E-R-N-E-L. The IPA pronunciation is \kɛʁ.nɛl\.
What does "kernel" mean?
As a noun, "kernel" means: Noyau de système d'exploitation.
How do you pronounce "kernel"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "kernel" is \kɛʁ.nɛl\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "kernel" come from?
"kernel" 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 "kernel", 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