stapes

noun

The verdict

“stapes” 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 September 3, 2026) - Un des trois osselets de l’oreille moyenne.

Corpus desk

Index FR-stapes · stapes · French

stapes · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-2 2 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 stapes
PropertyValue
Headwordstapes
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
Letters6
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Longue queue: rang de « stapes » en français

stapesreste 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

stapes is uncommon French outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Un des trois osselets de l’oreille moyenne.".

The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for stapes, 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.

This entry's etymology isn't recorded, so its spelling is easiest to reason about phoneme by phoneme, absent a documented history. The correct French form is stapes, spelled S-T-A-P-E-S.

Definition

  1. 1
    Un des trois osselets de l’oreille moyenne.

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

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

  1. Le stapes est constitué par : — la platine fixée à la fenêtre ovale par un ligament annulaire. — la tête et deux branches, constituant la superstructure.

Synonyms

This word in other languages

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 "stapes"?
"stapes" is spelled S-T-A-P-E-S.
What does "stapes" mean?
As a noun, "stapes" means: Un des trois osselets de l’oreille moyenne.
What language does "stapes" come from?
"stapes" 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