sel de mer

\sɛl də mɛʁ\

/\sɛl də mɛʁ\/ noun

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

The verdict

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

Unranked
below top-frequency French
10
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Chlorure de sodium quasiment pur obtenu par évaporation de l'eau de mer qui en contient une trentaine de grammes par litre

Key facts for sel de mer
PropertyValue
Headwordsel de mer
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\sɛl də mɛʁ\
Letters10
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “sel de mer” sits in French frequency

sel de mer falls outside the top-100,000 ranked French words, the long-tail zone of technical, archaic, or low-frequency vocabulary, exactly where readers second-guess spellings most.

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

Rare enough to double-check

sel de mer is uncommon French outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed \sɛl də mɛʁ\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Chlorure de sodium quasiment pur obtenu par évaporation de l'eau de mer qui en contient une trentaine de grammes par litre".

We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for sel de mer, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.

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 sel de mer, spelled S-E-L- -D-E- -M-E-R.

Definition

  1. 1
    Chlorure de sodium quasiment pur obtenu par évaporation de l'eau de mer qui en contient une trentaine de grammes par litre

This word in other languages

sea salt(English)

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 "sel de mer"?
"sel de mer" is spelled S-E-L- -D-E- -M-E-R. The IPA pronunciation is \sɛl də mɛʁ\.
What does "sel de mer" mean?
As a noun, "sel de mer" means: Chlorure de sodium quasiment pur obtenu par évaporation de l'eau de mer qui en contient une trentaine de grammes par litre
How do you pronounce "sel de mer"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "sel de mer" is \sɛl də mɛʁ\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "sel de mer" come from?
"sel de mer" is a French word. PlainSpell covers definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German.
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 “sel de mer”

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

  • The one correct French spelling is S-E-L- -D-E- -M-E-R - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as \sɛl də mɛʁ\ (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
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