porte-tambour

\pɔʁt tɑ̃.buʁ\

/\pɔʁt tɑ̃.buʁ\/ noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

The verdict

“porte-tambour” is uncommon French (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency French
13
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Porte fonctionnant sur le principe du tourniquet.

Key facts for porte-tambour
PropertyValue
Headwordporte-tambour
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\pɔʁt tɑ̃.buʁ\
Letters13
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “porte-tambour” sits in French frequency

porte-tambour 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.

Rare enough to double-check

porte-tambour is uncommon French outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed \pɔʁt tɑ̃.buʁ\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Porte fonctionnant sur le principe du tourniquet.".

We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for porte-tambour, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable French rules. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.

No documented word history exists for this headword, leaving phoneme-to-grapheme mapping as the best guide to its spelling rather than a borrowing history. The correct French form is porte-tambour, spelled P-O-R-T-E---T-A-M-B-O-U-R.

Definition

  1. 1
    Porte fonctionnant sur le principe du tourniquet.

This word in other languages

revolving door(English)

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 "porte-tambour"?
"porte-tambour" is spelled P-O-R-T-E---T-A-M-B-O-U-R. The IPA pronunciation is \pɔʁt tɑ̃.buʁ\.
What does "porte-tambour" mean?
As a noun, "porte-tambour" means: Porte fonctionnant sur le principe du tourniquet.
How do you pronounce "porte-tambour"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "porte-tambour" is \pɔʁt tɑ̃.buʁ\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "porte-tambour" come from?
"porte-tambour" is a French word. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for this and other words across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German on PlainSpell.
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 “porte-tambour”

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

  • The one correct French spelling is P-O-R-T-E---T-A-M-B-O-U-R - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as \pɔʁt tɑ̃.buʁ\ (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