tourterelle

\tuʁ.tə.ʁɛl\

/\tuʁ.tə.ʁɛl\/ noun

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

The verdict

“tourterelle” is uncommon French (frequency #58,990 among 164,488 “T” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#58,990
frequency rank, French
164,488
“T” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Nom vernaculaire ou normalisé de plusieurs genres d'oiseaux de la famille des columbidés de taille inférieure au pigeon, à queue généralement plus longue et effilée.

Key facts for tourterelle
PropertyValue
Headwordtourterelle
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\tuʁ.tə.ʁɛl\
Letters11
Frequency rank#58,990
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “tourterelle” 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). tourterelle 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

tourterelle is uncommon French at frequency #58,990 among 164,488 “T” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed \tuʁ.tə.ʁɛl\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 4 senses are on record.

No misspelling variants are generated for tourterelle in our index, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.

Our source data has no etymology on file for this entry, so its spelling is best read as a straightforward mapping from sound to letter. The correct French form is tourterelle, spelled T-O-U-R-T-E-R-E-L-L-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Nom vernaculaire ou normalisé de plusieurs genres d'oiseaux de la famille des columbidés de taille inférieure au pigeon, à queue généralement plus longue et effilée.
  2. 2
    Couleur grise légèrement rosée. #BBACAC
  3. 3
    Crécelle
  4. 4
    Meuble représentant l’animal du même nom dans les armoiries. Elle se blasonne comme le pigeon dont elle ne diffère pas vraiment (il y a donc risque de confusion) si ce n’est par le fait qu’elle est généralement représentée de sable (même si d’autres couleurs sont possibles). À rapprocher de colombe et pigeon.

This word in other languages

turtle dove(English)tórtola(Español)Turteltaube(Deutsch)rola(Português)

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 "tourterelle"?
"tourterelle" is spelled T-O-U-R-T-E-R-E-L-L-E. The IPA pronunciation is \tuʁ.tə.ʁɛl\.
What does "tourterelle" mean?
As a noun, "tourterelle" means: Nom vernaculaire ou normalisé de plusieurs genres d'oiseaux de la famille des columbidés de taille inférieure au pigeon, à queue généralement plus longue et effilée.
How do you pronounce "tourterelle"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "tourterelle" is \tuʁ.tə.ʁɛl\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "tourterelle" come from?
"tourterelle" 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 “tourterelle”

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

  • The one correct French spelling is T-O-U-R-T-E-R-E-L-L-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as \tuʁ.tə.ʁɛl\ (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