ponceau
\pɔ̃.so\
The verdict
“ponceau” is uncommon French (frequency #70,954 among 6,826 “P” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #70,954
- frequency rank, French
- 6,826
- “P” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Pavot sauvage de la couleur du coquelicot.
Corpus desk
Index FR-ponceau · ponceau · French
ponceau · rank #70,954 · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-RARE #70,954
- LEN-LONG 7 letters
- VOW-4 4 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-DENSE 6,826
- PHOTO-FINISH polyvalentes
Nearest frequency peer: polyvalentes (-1 rank slots)
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.
Rangs de longue queue près de « ponceau »
Bande clairsemée: les barres inversent le rang pour que le rare se lise plus court
- plussoie
plussoie
29,051 corpus weight
- PMP
PMP
29,050 corpus weight
- poissonniers
poissonniers
29,049 corpus weight
- polyvalentes
polyvalentes
29,048 corpus weight
- ponceau
ponceau
29,047 corpus weight
- porque
porque
29,045 corpus weight
What this shows Vue de longue queue: où « ponceau » se situe face à des rangs français aussi rares.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | ponceau |
| Language | French |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | \pɔ̃.so\ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Frequency rank | #70,954 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Longue queue: rang de « ponceau » en français
Rare enough to double-check
ponceau is uncommon French at frequency #70,954 among 6,826 “P” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed \pɔ̃.so\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.
No misspelling variants are generated for ponceau in our index, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.
No borrowing history is documented for this entry, so its spelling is easiest explained by how it's pronounced rather than where it came from. The correct French form is ponceau, spelled P-O-N-C-E-A-U.
Definition
- 1Pavot sauvage de la couleur du coquelicot.
- 2Couleur du coquelicot.
- 3Colorant servant à teindre en rouge.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how ponceau appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Si le Teinturier n’a pas le soin de désaviver les couleurs fines en saffrano, dans lesquelles il entre du jus de citron, comme dans le ponceau, le cerise, toute sorte de rose, nacarat, isabelle, chamois vif, jamais la moëre ne prendra bien, ainsi que sur le noir, si on ne recommande au Teinturier qu’il soit extrêmement lavé, plutôt à quatre Battures qu’à…
Deux encenseurs se retournaient à chaque pas vers le Saint-Sacrement, que portait, sous un dais de velours ponceau tenu par quatre fabriciens, M. le curé, dans sa belle chasuble.
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 French corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Similar French words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "ponceau", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked French headwords with 7 letters (nearest by frequency rank).