tarte au poil

\taʁ.t‿o pwal\

/\taʁ.t‿o pwal\/ noun

The verdict

“tarte au poil” is outside the top-ranked French vocabulary, used as a noun - the kind of word writers most often double-check.

Unranked
below top-frequency French
13
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Variante orthographique de tarte aux poils.

Key facts for tarte au poil
PropertyValue
Headwordtarte au poil
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\taʁ.t‿o pwal\
Letters13
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “tarte au poil” sits in French frequency

tarte au poil 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.

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The French entry for tarte au poil is 13 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as \taʁ.t‿o pwal\. It sits outside the most-frequent rank tiers, which is often why uncommon words generate more spelling variants per reader. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "Variante orthographique de tarte aux poils.".

The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for tarte au poil, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.

This headword's origin isn't recorded in our source data, so its spelling is best explained by sound-to-letter mapping rather than etymology. The correct French form is tarte au poil, spelled T-A-R-T-E- -A-U- -P-O-I-L.

Definition

  1. 1
    Variante orthographique de tarte aux poils.

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 "tarte au poil"?
"tarte au poil" is spelled T-A-R-T-E- -A-U- -P-O-I-L. The IPA pronunciation is \taʁ.t‿o pwal\.
What does "tarte au poil" mean?
As a noun, "tarte au poil" means: Variante orthographique de tarte aux poils.
How do you pronounce "tarte au poil"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "tarte au poil" is \taʁ.t‿o pwal\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "tarte au poil" come from?
"tarte au poil" 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 “tarte au poil”

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

  • The one correct French spelling is T-A-R-T-E- -A-U- -P-O-I-L - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as \taʁ.t‿o pwal\ (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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list