shotgun

\ˈʃɑt.ɡʌn\

/\ˈʃɑt.ɡʌn\/ noun

The verdict

“shotgun” is uncommon French (frequency #57,594 among 6,032 “S” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#57,594
frequency rank, French
6,032
“S” headwords

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

Corpus desk

Index FR-shotgun · shotgun · French

shotgun · rank #57,594 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #57,594
  • LEN-LONG 7 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 6,032
  • PHOTO-FINISH shetland

Nearest frequency peer: shetland (-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 « shotgun »

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 « shotgun » se situe face à des rangs français aussi rares.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for shotgun
PropertyValue
Headwordshotgun
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\ˈʃɑt.ɡʌn\
Letters7
Frequency rank#57,594
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Longue queue: rang de « shotgun » en français

La fréquence va de la poignée de mots du quotidien (gauche) à la longue queue presque jamais vue (droite).shotguntombe 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: « shetland » (#57,593), « shuffle » (#57,595), « sharing » (#57,592). Parmi 6,032 lemmes en « S », « shotgun » est au #57,594. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

shotgun is uncommon French at frequency #57,594 among 6,032 “S” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed \ˈʃɑt.ɡʌn\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

shotgun doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, suggesting the orthography follows predictable French patterns. This headword has no recorded confusable partner, 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 pattern is best understood through pronunciation rather than a traceable origin. The correct French form is shotgun, spelled S-H-O-T-G-U-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    Fusil de chasse.
  2. 2
    Siège passager avant, place du mort. En référence à la personne assise à côté du conducteur d'une diligence et portait le fusil.

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 "shotgun"?
"shotgun" is spelled S-H-O-T-G-U-N. The IPA pronunciation is \ˈʃɑt.ɡʌn\.
What does "shotgun" mean?
As a noun, "shotgun" means: Fusil de chasse.
How do you pronounce "shotgun"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "shotgun" is \ˈʃɑt.ɡʌn\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "shotgun" come from?
"shotgun" 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 "shotgun", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked French headwords with 7 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list