ULB

\y.ɛl.be\

/\y.ɛl.be\/ adj

The verdict

“ULB” is a moderately-common French word, ranked #41,052 in French word frequency and used as an adjective.

#41,052
frequency rank, French
3
letters
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) — Abréviation de ultralarge bande.

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

ULB vs un
0% similar
ULB vs up
0% similar
ULB vs UV
33% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for ULB
PropertyValue
HeadwordULB
LanguageFrench
Part of speechAdjective
IPA\y.ɛl.be\
Letters3
Frequency rank#41,052
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “ULB” 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). ULB lands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The French entry for ULB is 3 letters long, classified as an adjective, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as \y.ɛl.be\. Corpus data places it at rank #41,052 in overall French word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "Abréviation de ultralarge bande.".

No misspelling variants are generated for ULB in our index, suggesting the orthography follows predictable French patterns. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "un", "up", "UV", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

No explicit etymology string is stored for this entry, so spelling patterns must be inferred from the word's phoneme-to-grapheme mapping rather than from a documented borrowing chain. For readers arriving here from a spelling check, the authoritative guidance is: the correct French form is ULB, spelled U-L-B, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.

Definition

  1. 1
    Abréviation de ultralarge bande.

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.

Cite this page

Free to reuse with attribution (CC BY-SA). Copy the citation:

PlainSpell, “ULB, French word data” (May 6, 2026). Derived from Wiktionary (kaikki.org, CC BY-SA) and an open word-frequency list. https://plainspell.com/fr/mot/ulb

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "ULB"?
"ULB" is spelled U-L-B. The IPA pronunciation is \y.ɛl.be\.
What does "ULB" mean?
As an adjective, "ULB" means: Abréviation de ultralarge bande.
What words are commonly confused with "ULB"?
"ULB" is commonly confused with "un", "up", "UV". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "ULB"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "ULB" is \y.ɛl.be\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "ULB" come from?
"ULB" 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 “ULB”

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

  • The one correct French spelling is U-L-B - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as \y.ɛl.be\ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
  • Don't mix it up with “un” - see the side-by-side comparison. ULB vs un
  • Browse more French words and confusable pairs in the same reference. French words

Nearby French words

Other entries that begin with the letter U in our French index:

Explore PlainSpell

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