spathe

\spat\

/\spat\/ noun

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

The verdict

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

Unranked
below top-frequency French
6
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Nom donné à une lourde et courte épée utilisée par les Gaulois.

Key facts for spathe
PropertyValue
Headwordspathe
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\spat\
Letters6
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “spathe” sits in French frequency

spathe 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

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

spathe doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, a sign its spelling follows regular French conventions. 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 documented word history exists for this headword, leaving phoneme-to-grapheme mapping as the best guide to its spelling rather than a borrowing history. The correct French form is spathe, spelled S-P-A-T-H-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Nom donné à une lourde et courte épée utilisée par les Gaulois.
  2. 2
    Grande bractée généralement membraneuse entourant une inflorescence entière, ordinairement sèche ou coriace, qui, dans certaines plantes, telles que les palmiers, les narcisses, les arums, les posidonies, etc., enveloppe en formant un sac ou un cornet toutes les parties de la fructification et se fend ou se crève lorsqu’elle a acquis un certain développement.
  3. 3
    Feuille modifiée enveloppant l’épi de maïs.

This word in other languages

spathe(English)espata(Español)Hochblatt(Deutsch)

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 "spathe"?
"spathe" is spelled S-P-A-T-H-E. The IPA pronunciation is \spat\.
What does "spathe" mean?
As a noun, "spathe" means: Nom donné à une lourde et courte épée utilisée par les Gaulois.
How do you pronounce "spathe"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "spathe" is \spat\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "spathe" come from?
"spathe" 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 “spathe”

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

  • The one correct French spelling is S-P-A-T-H-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as \spat\ (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