pomme de terre

\pɔm də tɛʁ\

/\pɔm də tɛʁ\/ noun

The verdict

“pomme de terre” is outside the top-ranked French vocabulary, used as a noun - the kind of word writers most often double-check.

Unranked
below top-frequency French
14
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Rhizome souterrain tubérisé de forme plus ou moins sphérique et cabossé, souvent un peu allongé et consommé comme légume.

Key facts for pomme de terre
PropertyValue
Headwordpomme de terre
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\pɔm də tɛʁ\
Letters14
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “pomme de terre” sits in French frequency

pomme de terre falls outside the top-100,000 ranked French words, the long-tail zone of technical, archaic, or low-frequency vocabulary, exactly where readers second-guess spellings most.

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

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The French entry for pomme de terre is 14 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as \pɔm də tɛʁ\. It sits outside the most-frequent rank tiers, which is often why uncommon words generate more spelling variants per reader. Wiktionary records 3 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for pomme de terre, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.

This headword's origin isn't recorded in our source data, so its spelling is easiest to reason about phoneme by phoneme, absent a documented history. The correct French form is pomme de terre, spelled P-O-M-M-E- -D-E- -T-E-R-R-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Rhizome souterrain tubérisé de forme plus ou moins sphérique et cabossé, souvent un peu allongé et consommé comme légume.
  2. 2
    Plante herbacée cultivée d’origine andine de la famille des solanacées dont la pomme de terre constitue le tubercule.
  3. 3
    Airelle rouge, fruit proche de la myrtille.

Synonyms

morelle tubéreuseparmentièrepatatepommepomme du diabletreuffe🥔cartoufle

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 "pomme de terre"?
"pomme de terre" is spelled P-O-M-M-E- -D-E- -T-E-R-R-E. The IPA pronunciation is \pɔm də tɛʁ\.
What does "pomme de terre" mean?
As a noun, "pomme de terre" means: Rhizome souterrain tubérisé de forme plus ou moins sphérique et cabossé, souvent un peu allongé et consommé comme légume.
How do you pronounce "pomme de terre"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "pomme de terre" is \pɔm də tɛʁ\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "pomme de terre" come from?
"pomme de terre" is a French word. PlainSpell's reference spans five languages -- English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German -- with definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for each.
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.

Using “pomme de terre”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct French spelling is P-O-M-M-E- -D-E- -T-E-R-R-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as \pɔm də tɛʁ\ (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
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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list