serre-frein

\sɛʁ.fʁɛ̃\

/\sɛʁ.fʁɛ̃\/ noun

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

The verdict

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

Unranked
below top-frequency French
11
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Employé chargé de serrer le frein d’un convoi de chemin de fer.

Key facts for serre-frein
PropertyValue
Headwordserre-frein
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\sɛʁ.fʁɛ̃\
Letters11
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “serre-frein” sits in French frequency

serre-frein 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

serre-frein is uncommon French outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed \sɛʁ.fʁɛ̃\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.

No generated misspelling entries exist for serre-frein in our index, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.

This entry carries no recorded etymology, so its spelling is easiest explained by how it's pronounced rather than where it came from. The correct French form is serre-frein, spelled S-E-R-R-E---F-R-E-I-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    Employé chargé de serrer le frein d’un convoi de chemin de fer.
  2. 2
    Appareil qui serre les freins d'un tel convoi
  3. 3
    Celui qui est chargé de manœuvrer le système de freinage d'un bobsleigh.

Synonyms

garde-frein

This word in other languages

brakeman(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 "serre-frein"?
"serre-frein" is spelled S-E-R-R-E---F-R-E-I-N. The IPA pronunciation is \sɛʁ.fʁɛ̃\.
What does "serre-frein" mean?
As a noun, "serre-frein" means: Employé chargé de serrer le frein d’un convoi de chemin de fer.
How do you pronounce "serre-frein"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "serre-frein" is \sɛʁ.fʁɛ̃\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "serre-frein" come from?
"serre-frein" 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.

Using “serre-frein”

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

  • The one correct French spelling is S-E-R-R-E---F-R-E-I-N - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as \sɛʁ.fʁɛ̃\ (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