protège-dent

\pʁɔ.tɛʒ dɑ\

/\pʁɔ.tɛʒ dɑ\/ noun

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 September 3, 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...

Corpus desk

Index FR-protege-dent · protège-dent · French

protège-dent · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-MEGA 12 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "P" thin
  • PHOTO-UNK Peer pending

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.

Key facts for protège-dent
PropertyValue
Headwordprotège-dent
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\pʁɔ.tɛʒ dɑ\
Letters12
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Longue queue: rang de « protège-dent » en français

protège-dentn'entre pas dans le top 100.000 du français: zone de termes techniques, archaïques ou rares.

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

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

  1. 1
    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 glace, football américain, etc.).

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how protège-dent appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Tout protège-dent tombant au sol doit être soigneusement lavé avant d'être réutilisé.
  2. Les boxeurs sont munis de protège-dents.

Synonyms

protection intrabuccale

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 "protège-dent"?
"protège-dent" is spelled P-R-O-T-È-G-E---D-E-N-T. The IPA pronunciation is \pʁɔ.tɛʒ dɑ\.
What does "protège-dent" mean?
As a noun, "protège-dent" means: 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...
How do you pronounce "protège-dent"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "protège-dent" is \pʁɔ.tɛʒ dɑ\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "protège-dent" come from?
"protège-dent" 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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list