pangolin
\pɑ̃.ɡɔ.lɛ̃\
The verdict
“pangolin” is uncommon French (frequency #78,713 among 248,534 “P” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #78,713
- frequency rank, French
- 248,534
- “P” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Mammifère du super-ordre des laurasiathériens aujourd’hui représenté par le genre Manis en Afrique et en Asie du sud et dont le corps est presqu’entièrement recouvert d’écailles (ostéodermes) large...
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | pangolin |
| Language | French |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | \pɑ̃.ɡɔ.lɛ̃\ |
| Letters | 8 |
| Frequency rank | #78,713 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “pangolin” sits in French frequency
Rare enough to double-check
pangolin is uncommon French at frequency #78,713 among 248,534 “P” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed \pɑ̃.ɡɔ.lɛ̃\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Mammifère du super-ordre des laurasiathériens aujourd’hui représenté par le genre Manis en Afrique et en Asie du sud et dont le corps est presqu’entièrement recouvert d’écailles (ostéodermes) large...".
Zero misspellings are on record for pangolin in our index, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.
Wiktionary doesn't record an etymology for this headword, so its spelling is easiest explained by how it's pronounced rather than where it came from. The correct French form is pangolin, spelled P-A-N-G-O-L-I-N.
Definition
- 1Mammifère du super-ordre des laurasiathériens aujourd’hui représenté par le genre Manis en Afrique et en Asie du sud et dont le corps est presqu’entièrement recouvert d’écailles (ostéodermes) larges, plates et triangulaires, dont la taille varie de 60 cm à plus d'un mètre pour le pangolin géant. Animal nocturne très craintif qui se roule en boule dès qu’il se sent menacé. Il se sert de ses griffes pour percer des trous dans les fourmilières et aspire ensuite les fourmis avec sa longue langue effilée, comme le ferait un fourmilier ordinaire.
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 "pangolin"?
What does "pangolin" mean?
How do you pronounce "pangolin"?
What language does "pangolin" come from?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Using “pangolin”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct French spelling is P-A-N-G-O-L-I-N - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as \pɑ̃.ɡɔ.lɛ̃\ (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.