lesse

\lɛs\

/\lɛs\/ noun

The verdict

“lesse” is uncommon French (frequency #63,883 among 2,567 “L” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#63,883
frequency rank, French
2,567
“L” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Sonnerie pour les morts.

Corpus desk

Index FR-lesse · lesse · French

lesse · rank #63,883 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #63,883
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,567
  • PHOTO-FINISH Lesley

Nearest frequency peer: Lesley (-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 « lesse »

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

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for lesse
PropertyValue
Headwordlesse
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\lɛs\
Letters5
Frequency rank#63,883
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Longue queue: rang de « lesse » en français

La fréquence va de la poignée de mots du quotidien (gauche) à la longue queue presque jamais vue (droite).lessetombe 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: « Lesley » (#63,882), « lian » (#63,884), « leitão » (#63,881). Parmi 2,567 lemmes en « L », « lesse » est au #63,883. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

lesse is uncommon French at frequency #63,883 among 2,567 “L” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed \lɛs\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 4 senses are on record.

No generated misspelling entries exist for lesse in our index, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.

No documented word history exists for this headword, so its spelling is easiest to reason about phoneme by phoneme, absent a documented history. The correct French form is lesse, spelled L-E-S-S-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Sonnerie pour les morts.
  2. 2
    Tour du ressort.
  3. 3
    Laisse pour attacher.
  4. 4
    Machine de guerre antique qui était une tour garnie de cuir, destinée à se protéger des flèches enflammées lancées par l'ennemi

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

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

  1. Si je voulais voir Louis malheureux et faire fleurir une séparation de corps, je n’aurais qu’à me mettre à sa lesse.

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 "lesse"?
"lesse" is spelled L-E-S-S-E. The IPA pronunciation is \lɛs\.
What does "lesse" mean?
As a noun, "lesse" means: Sonnerie pour les morts.
How do you pronounce "lesse"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "lesse" is \lɛs\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "lesse" come from?
"lesse" 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 "lesse", 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