percale
French, noun/pɛʁ.kal/
percale is spelled P-E-R-C-A-L-E (7 letters) and appears about once in every 19 million words in written French, the 139,724th most frequent French word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Percale is a French feminine noun meaning “percale” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire) defines it as “Textile de coton très serré traité pour obtenir brillance et fermeté, plus fin que le calicot dont il est une…”.
What does percale mean in English?
noun
- 1
femininepercale
Source: English Wiktionary, French section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How French dictionaries define it
noun: 1. Textile de coton très serré traité pour obtenir brillance et fermeté, plus fin que le calicot dont il est une variété.
noun: 1. Tabac.
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 percale
- percales plural
Source: English Wiktionary and French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire) (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
How do you pronounce percale?
- /pɛʁ.kal/
- \pɛʁ.kal\
Sources: English Wiktionary, French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire) (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026); recordings from Wikimedia Commons.
How common is percale in French?
percale appears about once in every 19 million words in written French.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).