racine

\ʁa.sin\

/\ʁa.sin\/ noun

The verdict

“racine” is a regularly-used French word, ranked #5,912 in French word frequency and used as a noun.

#5,912
frequency rank, French
6
letters
8
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Organe végétal, généralement souterrain, assurant l’absorption de l’eau et des sels minéraux, la fixation de la plante à son support et parfois le stockage de réserves. Certaines racines peuvent êt...

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

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

racine vs raie
67% similar
racine vs rain
67% similar
racine vs reine
67% similar

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

Key facts for racine
PropertyValue
Headwordracine
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\ʁa.sin\
Letters6
Frequency rank#5,912
Misspellings tracked8
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “racine” sits in French frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). racine lands here:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The French entry for racine is 6 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as \ʁa.sin\. Corpus data places it at rank #5,912 in overall French word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 13 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our generated misspelling index lists 8 likely wrong-spelling variants for racine, with forms such as "arcine", "raccine", and "racien". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "raie", "rain", "reine", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Wiktionary doesn't record an etymology for this headword, so its spelling is best explained by sound-to-letter mapping rather than etymology. The correct French form is racine, spelled R-A-C-I-N-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Organe végétal, généralement souterrain, assurant l’absorption de l’eau et des sels minéraux, la fixation de la plante à son support et parfois le stockage de réserves. Certaines racines peuvent être aériennes, aquatiques ou spécialisées.
  2. 2
    Racine de certains arbres dont on fait des ouvrages d’ébénisterie et de tour.
  3. 3
    Plante, telle que les raves, les betteraves, les carottes, les navets, etc., dans lesquelles ce qui est comestible est ce qui vient en terre.
  4. 4
    Partie des ongles, des dents, des cheveux, des poils par où ils tiennent à la chair.
  5. 5
    Point par lequel un nerf tient au cerveau ou à la moelle épinière.
  6. 6
    Principe du commencement de certaines choses ; origine.
  7. 7
    Mot primitif, d’où dérivent d’autres mots ; la plus petite et plus ancienne unité lexicale qui permette de former des mots apparentés.
  8. 8
    Mot primitif, d’où dérivent d’autres mots ; la plus petite et plus ancienne unité lexicale qui permette de former des mots apparentés.
  9. 9
    Étymon.
  10. 10
    Valeur d'une fonction pour laquelle cette dernière s'annule.
  11. 11
    Nombre déduit d’un autre, de telle sorte que le second soit une puissance du premier.
  12. 12
    Élément (« nœud ») de base d’une structure arborescente (« arbre »), qui n’a lui-même aucun nœud parent.
  13. 13
    Répertoire de base d’un système de fichiers.

Antonyms

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: arcine,raccine,racien,racinne,racnie,raicne,rcaine,rracine

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of racine - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.

arcine2raccine1racien2racinne1racnie2raicne2rcaine2rracine1
Edit distance from "racine"

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 "racine"?
"racine" is spelled R-A-C-I-N-E. The IPA pronunciation is \ʁa.sin\.
What does "racine" mean?
As a noun, "racine" means: Organe végétal, généralement souterrain, assurant l’absorption de l’eau et des sels minéraux, la fixation de la plante à son support et parfois le stockage de réserves. Certaines racines peuvent êt...
What words are commonly confused with "racine"?
"racine" is commonly confused with "raie", "rain", "reine". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "racine"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "racine" is \ʁa.sin\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "racine" come from?
"racine" 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.

Using “racine”

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

  • The one correct French spelling is R-A-C-I-N-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as \ʁa.sin\ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
  • Don't mix it up with “raie” - see the side-by-side comparison. racine vs raie
  • 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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list