ondulation

Name: ondulation, French Word Data
Creator: Wiktionary
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

\ɔ̃.dy.la.sjɔ̃\

/\ɔ̃.dy.la.sjɔ̃\/ noun

By PlainSpell · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) · analyzed May 6, 2026

The verdict

“ondulation” is uncommon French (frequency #66,176 among 75,470 “O” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#66,176
frequency rank, French: 75,470
“O” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Mouvement oscillatoire, vibration qui se produit dans l’eau, dont on voit les parties s’élever et s’abaisser alternativement.

Key facts for ondulation
Property	Value
Headword	ondulation
Language	French
Part of speech	Noun
IPA	\ɔ̃.dy.la.sjɔ̃\
Letters	10
Frequency rank	#66,176
Misspellings tracked	0
Confusable pairs	0
Source	Wiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “ondulation” sits in French frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). ondulation lands here:

#66,176

#1#100#1K#10K#100K

← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

ondulation is uncommon French at frequency #66,176 among 75,470 “O” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed \ɔ̃.dy.la.sjɔ̃\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 4 senses are on record.

No misspelling variants are generated for ondulation in our index, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.

No documented word history exists for this headword, so its spelling is easiest to reason about phoneme by phoneme, absent a documented history. The correct French form is ondulation, spelled O-N-D-U-L-A-T-I-O-N.

Definition

1
Mouvement oscillatoire, vibration qui se produit dans l’eau, dont on voit les parties s’élever et s’abaisser alternativement.
2
Tout mouvement qui imite celui des ondes.
3
Dessin, traits, lignes, ou contours, d’une draperie.
4
Mouvements oscillatoires, vibrations concentriques qui animent certains milieux fluides à la manière de l’eau agitée par la chute d’une pierre.

This word in other languages

ripple(English)ondulación(Español)Kräuseln(Deutsch)ondulação(Português)

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 "ondulation"?

"ondulation" is spelled O-N-D-U-L-A-T-I-O-N. The IPA pronunciation is \ɔ̃.dy.la.sjɔ̃\.

What does "ondulation" mean?

As a noun, "ondulation" means: Mouvement oscillatoire, vibration qui se produit dans l’eau, dont on voit les parties s’élever et s’abaisser alternativement.

How do you pronounce "ondulation"?

The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "ondulation" is \ɔ̃.dy.la.sjɔ̃\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.

What language does "ondulation" come from?

"ondulation" is a French word. PlainSpell covers definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German.

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.

Using “ondulation”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

The one correct French spelling is O-N-D-U-L-A-T-I-O-N - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
Say it as \ɔ̃.dy.la.sjɔ̃\ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
Browse more French words and confusable pairs in the same reference. French words

Other uncommon French words near this rank

Data Source

Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.