mortaise

\mɔʁ.tɛz\

/\mɔʁ.tɛz\/ noun

The verdict

“mortaise” 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) - Entaille, généralement de section rectangulaire, pratiquée dans une pièce de bois ou de métal pour y recevoir le tenon d’une autre pièce quand on veut les assembler.

Corpus desk

Index FR-mortaise · mortaise · French

mortaise · 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 "M" 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 mortaise
PropertyValue
Headwordmortaise
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\mɔʁ.tɛz\
Letters8
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Longue queue: rang de « mortaise » en français

mortaisereste 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

mortaise is uncommon French outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed \mɔʁ.tɛz\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

No generated misspelling entries exist for mortaise in our index, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, 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 is best explained by sound-to-letter mapping rather than etymology. The correct French form is mortaise, spelled M-O-R-T-A-I-S-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Entaille, généralement de section rectangulaire, pratiquée dans une pièce de bois ou de métal pour y recevoir le tenon d’une autre pièce quand on veut les assembler.
  2. 2
    Vide d'un moufle où l'on met le rouet, trou dans lequel passe la tête du mât de hune.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Les deux longs côtés de la mortaise qui répondent à la largeur du tenon , doivent toujours être dirigés parallèlement au fil du bois.
  2. Quand on veut que la cheville fasse tirage, on perce d’abord la mortaise de part en part, le tenon n’y étant pas ; on met le tenon en place, on marque les trous, on retire le tenon, on perce les trous un peu plus haut qu’ils ne doivent l’être.

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 "mortaise"?
"mortaise" is spelled M-O-R-T-A-I-S-E. The IPA pronunciation is \mɔʁ.tɛz\.
What does "mortaise" mean?
As a noun, "mortaise" means: Entaille, généralement de section rectangulaire, pratiquée dans une pièce de bois ou de métal pour y recevoir le tenon d’une autre pièce quand on veut les assembler.
How do you pronounce "mortaise"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "mortaise" is \mɔʁ.tɛz\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "mortaise" come from?
"mortaise" 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