shinkansen

noun

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

The verdict

“shinkansen” is uncommon French (frequency #81,573 among 394,209 “S” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#81,573
frequency rank, French
394,209
“S” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Système de train à grande vitesse en service au Japon

Key facts for shinkansen
PropertyValue
Headwordshinkansen
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
Letters10
Frequency rank#81,573
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “shinkansen” 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). shinkansen 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

shinkansen is uncommon French at frequency #81,573 among 394,209 “S” headwords, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Système de train à grande vitesse en service au Japon".

shinkansen has no tracked misspelling variants, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable French rules. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.

No documented word history exists for this headword, so its spelling is best explained by sound-to-letter mapping rather than etymology. The correct French form is shinkansen, spelled S-H-I-N-K-A-N-S-E-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    Système de train à grande vitesse en service au Japon

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 "shinkansen"?
"shinkansen" is spelled S-H-I-N-K-A-N-S-E-N.
What does "shinkansen" mean?
As a noun, "shinkansen" means: Système de train à grande vitesse en service au Japon
What language does "shinkansen" come from?
"shinkansen" 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 “shinkansen”

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

  • The one correct French spelling is S-H-I-N-K-A-N-S-E-N - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • 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