pliant
French, noun\pli.jɑ̃\
pliant is spelled P-L-I-A-N-T (6 letters) and appears about once in every 1 million words in written French, the 37,217th most frequent French word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Pliant is a French masculine noun meaning “folding chair, seat, etc” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). It is also a present participle of plier. The French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire) defines it as “Siège qui se plie en deux pour son rangement”.
What does pliant mean in English?
adjective
- 1
pliant
vélo pliant
noun
- 1
colloquialmasculinefolding chair, seat, etc.
verb
- 1
present participle of plier
Source: English Wiktionary, French section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How French dictionaries define it
adjective: 1. Qui est souple, flexible, facile à plier. 2. Qualifie un meuble ou un objet qui se replie pour permettre son rangement. 3. Qui est docile, accommodant, disposé à faire ce que les autres veulent ou ce que les circonstances demandent.
noun: 1. Siège qui se plie en deux pour son rangement.
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 pliant
- pliante feminine
- pliants masculine plural
- pliantes feminine plural
Source: English Wiktionary and French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire) (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
How do you pronounce pliant?
- \pli.jɑ̃\
Sources: English Wiktionary, French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire) (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026); recordings from Wikimedia Commons.
English words that translate to pliant
Source: the translation tables of the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026.
How common is pliant in French?
pliant appears about once in every 1 million words in written French.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).