latérite

\la.te.ʁit\

/\la.te.ʁit\/ noun

The verdict

“latérite” is uncommon French (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency French
8
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Roche rouge, jaspée, ressemblant à de la brique, composée d’une roche trappéenne altérée et d’oxyde de fer.

Corpus desk

Index FR-laterite · latérite · French

latérite · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-LONG 8 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "L" thin
  • PHOTO-UNK Peer pending

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.

Key facts for latérite
PropertyValue
Headwordlatérite
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\la.te.ʁit\
Letters8
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Longue queue: rang de « latérite » en français

latéritereste hors des 100.000 mots français les plus fréquents, dans la longue queue du vocabulaire technique, archaïque ou rare, là où le doute d'orthographe frappe.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

latérite is uncommon French outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed \la.te.ʁit\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Roche rouge, jaspée, ressemblant à de la brique, composée d’une roche trappéenne altérée et d’oxyde de fer.".

The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for latérite, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.

This headword's origin isn't recorded in our source data, leaving phoneme-to-grapheme mapping as the best guide to its spelling rather than a borrowing history. The correct French form is latérite, spelled L-A-T-É-R-I-T-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Roche rouge, jaspée, ressemblant à de la brique, composée d’une roche trappéenne altérée et d’oxyde de fer.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. […] ; l'air est chaud et humide, la foule animée, la latérite omniprésente rouge passé, même si les bords des flaques d'eau du dernier orage donnent l'impression de lèvres de blessure en cours de cicatrisation.
  2. Le taxi est arrivé sur un promontoire en latérite qui surplombait la rivière. — (Gaël Faye, Petit Pays, Grasset, 2016, page 207)

Synonyms

ferralitesol latéritique

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

How do you spell "latérite"?
"latérite" is spelled L-A-T-É-R-I-T-E. The IPA pronunciation is \la.te.ʁit\.
What does "latérite" mean?
As a noun, "latérite" means: Roche rouge, jaspée, ressemblant à de la brique, composée d’une roche trappéenne altérée et d’oxyde de fer.
How do you pronounce "latérite"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "latérite" is \la.te.ʁit\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "latérite" come from?
"latérite" 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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list