patella

\pa.tɛ.la\

/\pa.tɛ.la\/ noun

The verdict

“patella” is uncommon French (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency French
7
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Nouveau nom scientifique de la rotule.

Corpus desk

Index FR-patella · patella · French

patella · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-LONG 7 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "P" thin
  • PHOTO-UNK Peer pending

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.

Key facts for patella
PropertyValue
Headwordpatella
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\pa.tɛ.la\
Letters7
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Longue queue: rang de « patella » en français

patellareste hors des 100.000 mots français les plus fréquents, dans la longue queue du vocabulaire technique, archaïque ou rare, là où le doute d'orthographe frappe.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

patella is uncommon French outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed \pa.tɛ.la\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Nouveau nom scientifique de la rotule.".

patella has no tracked misspelling variants, suggesting the orthography follows predictable French patterns. Our dataset records no confusable match here, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.

This headword's origin isn't recorded in our source data, so its spelling is best explained by sound-to-letter mapping rather than etymology. The correct French form is patella, spelled P-A-T-E-L-L-A.

Definition

  1. 1
    Nouveau nom scientifique de la rotule.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. La face antérieure de la patella est convexe. Sa partie supérieure est rugueuse et donne attache au muscle droit fémoral. Sa partie inférieure est lisse et donne attache au tendon rotulien, qui la relie au tibia.
  2. La kinésithérapeute qui m'a soigné ironisait sur l'adoption du terme patella pour désigner l'os que jadis on appelait rotule.

Synonyms

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "patella"?
"patella" is spelled P-A-T-E-L-L-A. The IPA pronunciation is \pa.tɛ.la\.
What does "patella" mean?
As a noun, "patella" means: Nouveau nom scientifique de la rotule.
How do you pronounce "patella"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "patella" is \pa.tɛ.la\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "patella" come from?
"patella" is a French word. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for this and other words across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German on PlainSpell.
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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list