ribose

\ʁi.boz\

/\ʁi.boz\/ noun

The verdict

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

Unranked
below top-frequency French
6
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Sucre de la famille des pentoses, de formule chimique C₅H₁₀O₅, composant principal du squelette carboné de l’ARN.

Corpus desk

Index FR-ribose · ribose · French

ribose · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "R" 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 ribose
PropertyValue
Headwordribose
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\ʁi.boz\
Letters6
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Longue queue: rang de « ribose » en français

ribosesiège au-delà des 100.000 formes les plus fréquentes du français, dans la traîne du lexique spécialisé ou peu usité.

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

Rare enough to double-check

ribose is uncommon French outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed \ʁi.boz\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Sucre de la famille des pentoses, de formule chimique C₅H₁₀O₅, composant principal du squelette carboné de l’ARN.".

No misspelling variants are generated for ribose in our index, a sign its spelling follows regular French conventions. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.

This entry's etymology isn't recorded, leaving phoneme-to-grapheme mapping as the best guide to its spelling rather than a borrowing history. The correct French form is ribose, spelled R-I-B-O-S-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Sucre de la famille des pentoses, de formule chimique C₅H₁₀O₅, composant principal du squelette carboné de l’ARN.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Les biochimistes ont également découvert [sur Tchouri] un sucre, le ribose, une molécule structurante de l'acide ribonucléique (ARN) support du patrimoine génétique .
  2. Toutefois, des expériences en laboratoire ont montré que cette géométrie ne favorise pas la formation de ribose, un sucre clé dans la fabrication de l’arn.

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 "ribose"?
"ribose" is spelled R-I-B-O-S-E. The IPA pronunciation is \ʁi.boz\.
What does "ribose" mean?
As a noun, "ribose" means: Sucre de la famille des pentoses, de formule chimique C₅H₁₀O₅, composant principal du squelette carboné de l’ARN.
How do you pronounce "ribose"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "ribose" is \ʁi.boz\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "ribose" come from?
"ribose" 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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list