protège-dent
\pʁɔ.tɛʒ dɑ\
The verdict
“protège-dent” is uncommon French (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency French
- 12
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Pièce en matière synthétique moulée que l'on porte dans la bouche pour se protéger les dents lors de certaines activités sportives présentant un risque pour la denture (rugby, boxe, hockey sur glac...
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | protège-dent |
| Language | French |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | \pʁɔ.tɛʒ dɑ\ |
| Letters | 12 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “protège-dent” sits in French frequency
Rare enough to double-check
protège-dent is uncommon French outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed \pʁɔ.tɛʒ dɑ\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Pièce en matière synthétique moulée que l'on porte dans la bouche pour se protéger les dents lors de certaines activités sportives présentant un risque pour la denture (rugby, boxe, hockey sur glac...".
No misspelling variants are generated for protège-dent in our index, suggesting the orthography follows predictable French patterns. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.
No borrowing history is documented for this entry, so spelling patterns must be inferred from the word's phoneme-to-grapheme mapping rather than from a documented borrowing chain. The correct French form is protège-dent, spelled P-R-O-T-È-G-E---D-E-N-T.
Definition
- 1Pièce en matière synthétique moulée que l'on porte dans la bouche pour se protéger les dents lors de certaines activités sportives présentant un risque pour la denture (rugby, boxe, hockey sur glace, football américain, etc.).
Synonyms
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
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Using “protège-dent”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct French spelling is P-R-O-T-È-G-E---D-E-N-T - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as \pʁɔ.tɛʒ dɑ\ (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.