needle
\ˈniː.dl\
The verdict
“needle” is uncommon French (frequency #73,379 among 1,563 “N” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #73,379
- frequency rank, French
- 1,563
- “N” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Aiguille.
Corpus desk
Index FR-needle · needle · French
needle · rank #73,379 · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-RARE #73,379
- LEN-LONG 6 letters
- VOW-3 3 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-MID 1,563
- PHOTO-FINISH neigeait
Nearest frequency peer: neigeait (+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 « needle »
Bande clairsemée: les barres inversent le rang pour que le rare se lise plus court
- métèques
métèques
26,626 corpus weight
- Narbonnais
Narbonnais
26,625 corpus weight
- needle
needle
26,622 corpus weight
- neigeait
neigeait
26,621 corpus weight
- neurotoxique
neurotoxique
26,620 corpus weight
- nigauds
nigauds
26,619 corpus weight
What this shows Vue de longue queue: où « needle » se situe face à des rangs français aussi rares.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | needle |
| Language | French |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | \ˈniː.dl\ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #73,379 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Longue queue: rang de « needle » en français
Rare enough to double-check
needle is uncommon French at frequency #73,379 among 1,563 “N” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed \ˈniː.dl\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.
needle has no tracked misspelling variants, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. This headword has no recorded confusable partner, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.
This headword's origin isn't recorded in our source data, so any spelling logic here comes from how the word's sounds map to letters, not a documented origin story. The correct French form is needle, spelled N-E-E-D-L-E.
Definition
- 1Aiguille.
- 2Aiguille (feuille de certains conifères).
- 3Seringue.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how needle appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
The seamstress threaded the needle to sew on a button.
Pine trees have needles instead of leaves.
Synonyms
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
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Similar French words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "needle", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked French headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).