patelle

\pa.tɛl\

/\pa.tɛl\/ noun

The verdict

“patelle” 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) - Mollusque gastéropode prosobranche qui vit dans la zone de balancement des marées dont la coquille, en forme de chapeau chinois, est appliquée aux rochers.

Corpus desk

Index FR-patelle · patelle · French

patelle · 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 patelle
PropertyValue
Headwordpatelle
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\pa.tɛl\
Letters7
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Longue queue: rang de « patelle » en français

patellesiège au-delà des 100.000 formes les plus fréquentes du français, dans la traîne du lexique spécialisé ou peu usité.

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

Rare enough to double-check

patelle is uncommon French outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed \pa.tɛl\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Mollusque gastéropode prosobranche qui vit dans la zone de balancement des marées dont la coquille, en forme de chapeau chinois, est appliquée aux rochers.".

No misspelling variants are generated for patelle in our index, a sign its spelling follows regular French conventions. No confusable counterpart is on file for this word, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.

This entry's etymology isn't recorded, so its spelling is easiest to reason about phoneme by phoneme, absent a documented history. The correct French form is patelle, spelled P-A-T-E-L-L-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Mollusque gastéropode prosobranche qui vit dans la zone de balancement des marées dont la coquille, en forme de chapeau chinois, est appliquée aux rochers.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Les enfans détachent du rocher les patelles, les turbos, les buccins, espèces de colimaçons de mer, les haliotides à l'écaille nacrée, ou les moules réunies en grappes à l'aide des fils tissés par l'animal.
  2. On privilégiera les abords de la Cotinière, sur Oléron, pour les étrilles, les oursins, les bigorneaux et les patelles.

Synonyms

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). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "patelle"?
"patelle" is spelled P-A-T-E-L-L-E. The IPA pronunciation is \pa.tɛl\.
What does "patelle" mean?
As a noun, "patelle" means: Mollusque gastéropode prosobranche qui vit dans la zone de balancement des marées dont la coquille, en forme de chapeau chinois, est appliquée aux rochers.
How do you pronounce "patelle"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "patelle" is \pa.tɛl\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "patelle" come from?
"patelle" 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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list