ricotta

\ʁi.kɔ.ta\

/\ʁi.kɔ.ta\/ noun

The verdict

“ricotta” is uncommon French (frequency #59,598 among 507,453 “R” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#59,598
frequency rank, French
507,453
“R” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Produit laitier issu historiquement de la cuisson du lactosérum, sous-produit de la fabrication du fromage emprésuré.

Key facts for ricotta
PropertyValue
Headwordricotta
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\ʁi.kɔ.ta\
Letters7
Frequency rank#59,598
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “ricotta” 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). ricotta lands here:

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

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

Rare enough to double-check

ricotta is uncommon French at frequency #59,598 among 507,453 “R” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed \ʁi.kɔ.ta\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Produit laitier issu historiquement de la cuisson du lactosérum, sous-produit de la fabrication du fromage emprésuré.".

No misspelling variants are generated for ricotta in our index, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.

No explicit etymology string is stored for this entry, leaving phoneme-to-grapheme mapping as the best guide to its spelling rather than a borrowing history. The correct French form is ricotta, spelled R-I-C-O-T-T-A.

Definition

  1. 1
    Produit laitier issu historiquement de la cuisson du lactosérum, sous-produit de la fabrication du fromage emprésuré.

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); 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 "ricotta"?
"ricotta" is spelled R-I-C-O-T-T-A. The IPA pronunciation is \ʁi.kɔ.ta\.
What does "ricotta" mean?
As a noun, "ricotta" means: Produit laitier issu historiquement de la cuisson du lactosérum, sous-produit de la fabrication du fromage emprésuré.
How do you pronounce "ricotta"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "ricotta" is \ʁi.kɔ.ta\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "ricotta" come from?
"ricotta" 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 “ricotta”

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

  • The one correct French spelling is R-I-C-O-T-T-A - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as \ʁi.kɔ.ta\ (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

Other uncommon French words near this rank

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