sterne

\stɛʁn\

/\stɛʁn\/ noun

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

The verdict

“sterne” is uncommon French (frequency #57,615 among 394,209 “S” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#57,615
frequency rank, French
394,209
“S” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Oiseau palmipède migrateur marin de la famille des laridés, communément appelé hirondelle de mer, à tête noire et à dos gris, qui vit sur les côtes ou près de l’eau.

Key facts for sterne
PropertyValue
Headwordsterne
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\stɛʁn\
Letters6
Frequency rank#57,615
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “sterne” 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). sterne 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

sterne is uncommon French at frequency #57,615 among 394,209 “S” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed \stɛʁn\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Oiseau palmipède migrateur marin de la famille des laridés, communément appelé hirondelle de mer, à tête noire et à dos gris, qui vit sur les côtes ou près de l’eau.".

Zero misspellings are on record for sterne in our index, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.

No borrowing history is documented for this entry, so its spelling is best read as a straightforward mapping from sound to letter. The correct French form is sterne, spelled S-T-E-R-N-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Oiseau palmipède migrateur marin de la famille des laridés, communément appelé hirondelle de mer, à tête noire et à dos gris, qui vit sur les côtes ou près de l’eau.

Synonyms

hirondelle de mer

This word in other languages

tern(English)charrán(Español)Seeschwalbe(Deutsch)

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 "sterne"?
"sterne" is spelled S-T-E-R-N-E. The IPA pronunciation is \stɛʁn\.
What does "sterne" mean?
As a noun, "sterne" means: Oiseau palmipède migrateur marin de la famille des laridés, communément appelé hirondelle de mer, à tête noire et à dos gris, qui vit sur les côtes ou près de l’eau.
How do you pronounce "sterne"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "sterne" is \stɛʁn\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "sterne" come from?
"sterne" is a French word. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for this and other words across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German on PlainSpell.
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 “sterne”

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

  • The one correct French spelling is S-T-E-R-N-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as \stɛʁn\ (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

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