orichalque
French, noun/ɔ.ʁi.kalk/
orichalque is spelled O-R-I-C-H-A-L-Q-U-E (10 letters) and appears about once in every 30 million words in written French, the 173,977th most frequent French word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Orichalque is a French masculine noun meaning “orichalcum” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire) defines it as “Métal ou alliage métallique mystérieux, ayant pu désigner le cuivre pur, le bronze (alliage de cuivre et…”.
What does orichalque mean in English?
noun
- 1
archaicmasculineorichalcum
Source: English Wiktionary, French section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How French dictionaries define it
noun: 1. Métal ou alliage métallique mystérieux, ayant pu désigner le cuivre pur, le bronze (alliage de cuivre et d’étain), et, particulièrement chez les Latins, le laiton (alliage de cuivre et de zinc).
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 orichalque
- aurichalque alternative
Source: English Wiktionary and French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire) (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
How do you pronounce orichalque?
- /ɔ.ʁi.kalk/
- \ɔ.ʁi.kalk\
Sources: English Wiktionary, French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire) (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026); recordings from Wikimedia Commons.
How common is orichalque in French?
orichalque appears about once in every 30 million words in written French.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).