menthol

\mɑ̃.tɔl\

/\mɑ̃.tɔl\/ noun

The verdict

“menthol” is uncommon French (frequency #65,311 among 5,038 “M” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#65,311
frequency rank, French
5,038
“M” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Cyclohexanol monoterpénique tiré de la feuille de menthe.

Corpus desk

Index FR-menthol · menthol · French

menthol · rank #65,311 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #65,311
  • LEN-LONG 7 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 5,038
  • PHOTO-FINISH medio

Nearest frequency peer: medio (-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 « menthol »

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

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for menthol
PropertyValue
Headwordmenthol
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\mɑ̃.tɔl\
Letters7
Frequency rank#65,311
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Longue queue: rang de « menthol » en français

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

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

L'axe est logarithmique: chaque tic marque environ dix fois moins de fréquence. Voisins rares de la même bande: « medio » (#65,310), « mentirais » (#65,312), « mentons » (#65,313). Parmi 5,038 lemmes en « M », « menthol » est au #65,311. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

menthol is uncommon French at frequency #65,311 among 5,038 “M” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed \mɑ̃.tɔl\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Cyclohexanol monoterpénique tiré de la feuille de menthe.".

menthol has no tracked misspelling variants, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. This headword has no recorded confusable partner, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.

Wiktionary doesn't record an etymology for this headword, leaving phoneme-to-grapheme mapping as the best guide to its spelling rather than a borrowing history. The correct French form is menthol, spelled M-E-N-T-H-O-L.

Definition

  1. 1
    Cyclohexanol monoterpénique tiré de la feuille de menthe.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Recouvertes de poils sécréteurs d’huile essentielle, [les menthes] émettent une odeur très caractéristique de menthol lorsqu’elles sont froissées.
  2. Les biochimistes ont établi que le tabac, l’alcool, l’ail, la carotte, l’ail des ours et d’autres ingrédients modifient l’odeur du lait, et ont identifié des composés responsables de ces odeurs, tels que la carvone (dans le fenugrec, le carvi), le menthol (dans la menthe), l’anéthol (dans l’anis, le fenouil…), l’eucalyptol (dans la menthe).

Synonyms

alcool mentholiquecamphre de mentheessence de menthe concrètehexahydrothymolp-menthan-3-ol

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); 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 "menthol"?
"menthol" is spelled M-E-N-T-H-O-L. The IPA pronunciation is \mɑ̃.tɔl\.
What does "menthol" mean?
As a noun, "menthol" means: Cyclohexanol monoterpénique tiré de la feuille de menthe.
How do you pronounce "menthol"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "menthol" is \mɑ̃.tɔl\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "menthol" come from?
"menthol" 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 "menthol", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked French headwords with 7 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list