pucelle

\py.sɛl\

/\py.sɛl\/ noun

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

The verdict

“pucelle” has 8 generated spelling variants in the French index at frequency #31,665. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#31,665
frequency rank, French
6,826
“P” headwords
8
tracked misspellings
6
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Jeune fille.

Corpus desk

Index FR-pucelle · pucelle · French

pucelle · rank #31,665 · 8 variants · 6 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #31,665
  • LEN-LONG 7 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-MID 6 pairs
  • VAR-MID 8 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 6,826
  • PHOTO-FINISH prêtant

Nearest frequency peer: prêtant (-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.

Pairs de rang près de l'aimant d'erreurs « pucelle »

Même bande de rareté: utile si une faute tombe sur un lemme voisin

corpus weight

What this shows « pucelle » siège parmi ces pairs FrequencyWords; la profondeur des fautes est suivie à part dans le graphique d'édition.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

pucelle vs pupille
71% similar
pucelle vs Purcell
57% similar
pucelle vs pelle
71% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for pucelle
PropertyValue
Headwordpucelle
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\py.sɛl\
Letters7
Frequency rank#31,665
Misspellings tracked8
Confusable pairs6
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Fréquence de l'aimant d'erreurs « pucelle »

La fréquence va de la poignée de mots du quotidien (gauche) à la longue queue presque jamais vue (droite).pucellese place ici:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

L'échelle est logarithmique (chaque tic ≈ 10× plus rare). Dans la même bande de rareté figurent « prêtant » (#31,664), « pâque » (#31,666), « précipitée » (#31,663). Parmi 6,826 lemmes en « P », « pucelle » est au #31,665. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 8 spelling variants around pucelle (IPA \py.sɛl\), anoun. Corpus frequency is #31,665 among 6,826 “P” headwords. Wiktionary lists 4 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 8 likely wrong-spelling variants for pucelle, with forms such as "pcuelle", "ppucelle", and "puccelle". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 6 confusable-pair relationships, "pupille", "Purcell", "pelle", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

No explicit etymology string is stored 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 pucelle, spelled P-U-C-E-L-L-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Jeune fille.
  2. 2
    Femme n’ayant jamais eu de relation sexuelle, vierge.
  3. 3
    Insigne réglementaire métallique porté sur la poitrine et indiquant la formation d’appartenance.
  4. 4
    Fontaine d’eau dans les cuisines.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Et tout frissonne, terre et cieux, L’homme triste et l’enfant joyeux, Et les pucelles dont les yeux Sont des étoiles !
  2. Mais les mots de fille ou de jeune fille ne me contentent pas pour désigner une enfant telle que cette concierge de votre bibliothèque municipale. On ne peut employer celui de pucelle qui a vieilli et mal vieilli. Et, je le dis en passant, c’est dommage. Il serait disgracieux de l’appeler une jeune personne ; je ne vois que le nom de nymphe qui lui convie…

Synonyms

viergefille

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • pcuelle
  • ppucelle
  • puccelle
  • pucele
  • pucelel
  • puclele
  • pueclle
  • upcelle

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of pucelle - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.

pcuelle2ppucelle1puccelle1pucele1pucelel2puclele2pueclle2upcelle2
Edit distance from "pucelle"

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

How do you spell "pucelle"?
"pucelle" is spelled P-U-C-E-L-L-E. The IPA pronunciation is \py.sɛl\.
What does "pucelle" mean?
As a noun, "pucelle" means: Jeune fille.
What words are commonly confused with "pucelle"?
"pucelle" is commonly confused with "pupille", "Purcell", "pelle". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "pucelle"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "pucelle" is \py.sɛl\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "pucelle" come from?
"pucelle" 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.

Similar French words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "pucelle", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked French headwords with 7 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

prêtant#31,664propagé#31,660rapaces#31,673Presley#31,655

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (8 here; floor ≥5).

pianos8 variantsPagny8 variantsovales8 variantsRossini8 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list