shake-hand

noun

The verdict

“shake-hand” 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 September 3, 2026) - Poignée de main.

Corpus desk

Index FR-shake-hand · shake-hand · French

shake-hand · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-MEGA 10 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "S" 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 shake-hand
PropertyValue
Headwordshake-hand
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
Letters10
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Longue queue: rang de « shake-hand » en français

shake-handreste hors des 100.000 mots français les plus fréquents, dans la longue queue du vocabulaire technique, archaïque ou rare, là où le doute d'orthographe frappe.

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

Rare enough to double-check

shake-hand is uncommon French outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Poignée de main.".

shake-hand doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.

This headword's origin isn't recorded in our source data, so its spelling is best explained by sound-to-letter mapping rather than etymology. The correct French form is shake-hand, spelled S-H-A-K-E---H-A-N-D.

Definition

  1. 1
    Poignée de main.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Je baisai la main ornée que Clothilde me tendit et gratifiai Louis-Pierre d’un vigoureux shake-hand.
  2. Mais le prince l'arrêta net d'un vigoureux shake-hand.

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 "shake-hand"?
"shake-hand" is spelled S-H-A-K-E---H-A-N-D.
What does "shake-hand" mean?
As a noun, "shake-hand" means: Poignée de main.
What language does "shake-hand" come from?
"shake-hand" 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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list