lapis

\la.pis\

/\la.pis\/ noun

The verdict

“lapis” is uncommon French (frequency #50,323 among 2,567 “L” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#50,323
frequency rank, French
2,567
“L” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Synonyme de Lapis-lazuli.

Corpus desk

Index FR-lapis · lapis · French

lapis · rank #50,323 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #50,323
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,567
  • PHOTO-FINISH Lamballe

Nearest frequency peer: Lamballe (-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 « lapis »

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

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for lapis
PropertyValue
Headwordlapis
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\la.pis\
Letters5
Frequency rank#50,323
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Longue queue: rang de « lapis » en français

Cette échelle va du noyau du français courant (gauche) jusqu'à la traîne des formes rares (droite).lapistombe dans cette queue de rareté:

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

Les tics avancent en logarithme; chacun est de l'ordre de dix fois plus rare. Voisins rares de la même bande: « Lamballe » (#50,322), « lacustre » (#50,321), « lascars » (#50,325). Parmi 2,567 lemmes en « L », « lapis » est au #50,323. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

lapis is uncommon French at frequency #50,323 among 2,567 “L” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed \la.pis\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

lapis doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, a sign its spelling follows regular French conventions. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.

Wiktionary doesn't record an etymology for this headword, so its spelling pattern is best understood through pronunciation rather than a traceable origin. The correct French form is lapis, spelled L-A-P-I-S.

Definition

  1. 1
    Synonyme de Lapis-lazuli.
  2. 2
    Nom donné à une variété d'indienne dont la couleur dominante est le bleu.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. ― Ô ma chère Laura, lui dis-je avec effort en appuyant mes lèvres sur sa main, comment peux-tu appliquer le mot de travail ingrat à l’admirable voyage que nous avons fait ensemble dans le cristal ? Rends-moi cette resplendissante vision des océans d’opale et des îles de lapis ! Retournons aux verts bosquets de la chrysoprase et aux sublimes rivages de l’e…
  2. Ainsi, lorsque Jean Colombe reprend Les Très Riches Heures entre 1485 et 1489, « on n’a pas les mêmes pigments que chez les Limbourg, qui utilisaient beaucoup le lapis, très cher pour leur bleu », note Élisabeth Ravaud.

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 "lapis"?
"lapis" is spelled L-A-P-I-S. The IPA pronunciation is \la.pis\.
What does "lapis" mean?
As a noun, "lapis" means: Synonyme de Lapis-lazuli.
How do you pronounce "lapis"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "lapis" is \la.pis\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "lapis" come from?
"lapis" 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 "lapis", 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