pancrace

\pɑ̃.kʁas\

/\pɑ̃.kʁas\/ noun

The verdict

“pancrace” is uncommon French (frequency #73,417 among 6,826 “P” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#73,417
frequency rank, French
6,826
“P” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Exercice qui faisait partie de la gymnastique et qui combinait la lutte et le pugilat.

Corpus desk

Index FR-pancrace · pancrace · French

pancrace · rank #73,417 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #73,417
  • LEN-LONG 8 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 6,826
  • PHOTO-FINISH pala

Nearest frequency peer: pala (-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 « pancrace »

Bande clairsemée: les barres inversent le rang pour que le rare se lise plus court

corpus weight

What this shows Vue de longue queue: où « pancrace » se situe face à des rangs français aussi rares.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for pancrace
PropertyValue
Headwordpancrace
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\pɑ̃.kʁas\
Letters8
Frequency rank#73,417
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Longue queue: rang de « pancrace » en français

De gauche à droite: le peu qui porte la parole quotidienne, puis la longue queue quasi invisible.pancracetombe dans cette queue de rareté:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Les tics avancent en logarithme; chacun est de l'ordre de dix fois plus rare. Voisins rares de la même bande: « pala » (#73,416), « papetière » (#73,419), « pardonnons » (#73,420). Parmi 6,826 lemmes en « P », « pancrace » est au #73,417. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

pancrace is uncommon French at frequency #73,417 among 6,826 “P” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed \pɑ̃.kʁas\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

pancrace has no tracked misspelling variants, suggesting the orthography follows predictable French patterns. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.

No borrowing history is documented for this entry, so its spelling pattern is best understood through pronunciation rather than a traceable origin. The correct French form is pancrace, spelled P-A-N-C-R-A-C-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Exercice qui faisait partie de la gymnastique et qui combinait la lutte et le pugilat.
  2. 2
    Lutte, combat.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Avant même d'avoir commencé, le bicentenaire [de la Révolution Française] est mal parti : ce qui aurait pu être une belle occasion pour accroître notre savoir sur la Révolution est en passe de devenir un pancrace idéologique où tous les mauvais coups sont permis.
  2. Mon caractère était déjà là : une sorte de goût pour le pancrace, une appétence pour le cancan, une salope aptitude à la méchanceté qui me poussait à risquer ma vie dans le moindre des ennuis.

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); 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 "pancrace"?
"pancrace" is spelled P-A-N-C-R-A-C-E. The IPA pronunciation is \pɑ̃.kʁas\.
What does "pancrace" mean?
As a noun, "pancrace" means: Exercice qui faisait partie de la gymnastique et qui combinait la lutte et le pugilat.
How do you pronounce "pancrace"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "pancrace" is \pɑ̃.kʁas\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "pancrace" come from?
"pancrace" 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.

Similar French words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "pancrace", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked French headwords with 8 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list