nain
French, noun/nɛ̃/
nain is spelled N-A-I-N (4 letters) and appears 5.5 times per million words in written French, the 10,464th most frequent French word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Nain is a French masculine noun meaning “dwarf (short human, small thing, mythological or fictional creature)” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire) defines it as “Humain d’une taille beaucoup plus petite que la taille ordinaire; personne qui vit avec le nanisme”.
What does nain mean in English?
adjective
- 1
dwarf
noun
- 1
masculinedwarf (short human, small thing, mythological or fictional creature)
- 2
masculinegnome (decorative, in a garden)
Source: English Wiktionary, French section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How French dictionaries define it
adjective: 1. De toute petite taille.
noun: 1. Humain d’une taille beaucoup plus petite que la taille ordinaire; personne qui vit avec le nanisme. 2. Créature mythologique de même aspect qu’un homme, mais de très petite taille. 3. Personne ou entité personnifiée de peu d’influence ou de peu d’envergure.
The definition in the French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire), in French.
Source: French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire), dump of September 1, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org.
Forms of nain
- naine feminine
- nains masculine plural
- naines feminine plural
Source: English Wiktionary and French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire) (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
How do you pronounce nain?
- /nɛ̃/
- \nɛ̃\
- [nɛ̃]
Sources: English Wiktionary, French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire) (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026); recordings from Wikimedia Commons.
English words that translate to nain
Source: the translation tables of the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026.
How common is nain in French?
nain appears 5.5 times per million words in written French.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).