rifle

\ʁifl\

/\ʁifl\/ noun

The verdict

“rifle” is uncommon French (frequency #61,100 among 5,742 “R” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#61,100
frequency rank, French
5,742
“R” headwords

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

Corpus desk

Index FR-rifle · rifle · French

rifle · rank #61,100 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #61,100
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 5,742
  • PHOTO-FINISH ripper

Nearest frequency peer: ripper (+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.

Rangs de longue queue près de « rifle »

Bande clairsemée: les barres inversent le rang pour que le rare se lise plus court

corpus weight

What this shows Vue de longue queue: où « rifle » se situe face à des rangs français aussi rares.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for rifle
PropertyValue
Headwordrifle
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\ʁifl\
Letters5
Frequency rank#61,100
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Longue queue: rang de « rifle » en français

La fréquence va de la poignée de mots du quotidien (gauche) à la longue queue presque jamais vue (droite).rifletombe dans cette queue de rareté:

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

L'axe est logarithmique: chaque tic marque environ dix fois moins de fréquence. Voisins rares de la même bande: « ripper » (#61,101), « riveraine » (#61,103), « rhumatisme » (#61,095). Parmi 5,742 lemmes en « R », « rifle » est au #61,100. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

rifle is uncommon French at frequency #61,100 among 5,742 “R” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed \ʁifl\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for rifle, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. No confusable counterpart is on file for this word, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.

Wiktionary doesn't record an etymology for this headword, so its spelling is best read as a straightforward mapping from sound to letter. The correct French form is rifle, spelled R-I-F-L-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Fusil.
  2. 2
    Tireur à ce fusil.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Carabine vingt-deux long rifle : Carabine de chasse ou de sport de calibre de vingt-deux centièmes de pouce (soit cinq millimètres cinquante huit).
  2. Le chasseur voulait davantage sans doute, car sa main tourmentait fébrilement la batterie de son rifle, un excellent Manton, arme de précision, à balle conique, qui permettait d’abattre un chat sauvage ou une antilope à une distance de huit à neuf cents yards.

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 "rifle"?
"rifle" is spelled R-I-F-L-E. The IPA pronunciation is \ʁifl\.
What does "rifle" mean?
As a noun, "rifle" means: Fusil.
How do you pronounce "rifle"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "rifle" is \ʁifl\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "rifle" come from?
"rifle" 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.

Similar French words by spelling shape

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

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked French headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list