trépan

\tʁe.pɑ̃\

/\tʁe.pɑ̃\/ noun

The verdict

“trépan” 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) - Instrument qui sert à percer, à désagréger les roches dans les sondages, les forages.

Corpus desk

Index FR-trepan · trépan · French

trépan · 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 "T" 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 trépan
PropertyValue
Headwordtrépan
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\tʁe.pɑ̃\
Letters6
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Longue queue: rang de « trépan » en français

trépanreste 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

trépan is uncommon French outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed \tʁe.pɑ̃\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 4 senses are on record.

trépan has no tracked misspelling variants, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.

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 trépan, spelled T-R-É-P-A-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    Instrument qui sert à percer, à désagréger les roches dans les sondages, les forages.
  2. 2
    Outil muni d’une mèche, comme le vilebrequin, pour percer la pierre, le marbre, le bois.
  3. 3
    Instrument en forme de vilebrequin, avec lequel on perce les os, et spécialement ceux du crâne.→ voir craniotome
  4. 4
    Opération qui se fait avec cet instrument.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Opérer avec le trépan.
  2. Ce blessé est trop faible, il ne pourra jamais souffrir, supporter le trépan.

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 "trépan"?
"trépan" is spelled T-R-É-P-A-N. The IPA pronunciation is \tʁe.pɑ̃\.
What does "trépan" mean?
As a noun, "trépan" means: Instrument qui sert à percer, à désagréger les roches dans les sondages, les forages.
How do you pronounce "trépan"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "trépan" is \tʁe.pɑ̃\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "trépan" come from?
"trépan" 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.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list