moraine

\mɔ.ʁɛn\

/\mɔ.ʁɛn\/ noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

The verdict

“moraine” is uncommon French (frequency #54,738 among 5,038 “M” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#54,738
frequency rank, French
5,038
“M” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Terrain escarpé au bord d’un torrent, d’une rivière, d’un lac.

Corpus desk

Index FR-moraine · moraine · French

moraine · rank #54,738 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #54,738
  • LEN-LONG 7 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 5,038
  • PHOTO-FINISH Moreira

Nearest frequency peer: Moreira (+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 « moraine »

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

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for moraine
PropertyValue
Headwordmoraine
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\mɔ.ʁɛn\
Letters7
Frequency rank#54,738
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Longue queue: rang de « moraine » en français

Cette échelle va du noyau du français courant (gauche) jusqu'à la traîne des formes rares (droite).morainetombe 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: « Moreira » (#54,739), « Monteil » (#54,736), « moria » (#54,740). Parmi 5,038 lemmes en « M », « moraine » est au #54,738. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

moraine is uncommon French at frequency #54,738 among 5,038 “M” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed \mɔ.ʁɛn\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for moraine, a sign its spelling follows regular French conventions. This headword has no recorded confusable partner, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.

No documented word history exists for this headword, so its spelling is easiest explained by how it's pronounced rather than where it came from. The correct French form is moraine, spelled M-O-R-A-I-N-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Terrain escarpé au bord d’un torrent, d’une rivière, d’un lac.
  2. 2
    Amas de pierres, de farine glaciaire et d'autres débris que les glaciers ont déposé sur leurs bords, en leur milieu et à leur extrémité inférieure.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Après avoir traversé une moraine aux pierres tranchantes, et écourté le chemin en escaladant un flanc de rocher à peu près accore, ils prirent pied sur une sorte de plateau de peu d'étendue, acculé à une muraille granitique.
  2. Ah ! ça, êtes-vous fou ? me dit Payot, vous allez sauter dans les moraines, vous ! […] Eh ! sacredieu ! allez-vous-en au diable, vous et votre brigand de pays, où l’on ne peut faire un pas sans risquer de se casser le cou, ou de s’ensabler : est-ce que je connais vos moraines, moi ?

This word in other languages

moraine(English)morena(Español)Moräne(Deutsch)

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 "moraine"?
"moraine" is spelled M-O-R-A-I-N-E. The IPA pronunciation is \mɔ.ʁɛn\.
What does "moraine" mean?
As a noun, "moraine" means: Terrain escarpé au bord d’un torrent, d’une rivière, d’un lac.
How do you pronounce "moraine"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "moraine" is \mɔ.ʁɛn\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "moraine" come from?
"moraine" 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 "moraine", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

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

Moreira#54,739Monteil#54,736moulure#54,741Nabokov#54,747

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list