viole de gambe

\vjɔl də ɡɑ̃b\

/\vjɔl də ɡɑ̃b\/ noun

The verdict

“viole de gambe” is uncommon French (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency French
14
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Luth à cordes frottées, tenu verticalement entre les jambes à la manière du violoncelle, mais à la touche garnie de frettes.

Key facts for viole de gambe
PropertyValue
Headwordviole de gambe
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\vjɔl də ɡɑ̃b\
Letters14
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “viole de gambe” sits in French frequency

viole de gambe 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.

Rare enough to double-check

viole de gambe is uncommon French outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed \vjɔl də ɡɑ̃b\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Luth à cordes frottées, tenu verticalement entre les jambes à la manière du violoncelle, mais à la touche garnie de frettes.".

No misspelling variants are generated for viole de gambe in our index, suggesting the orthography follows predictable French patterns. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.

No documented word history exists for this headword, so spelling patterns must be inferred from the word's phoneme-to-grapheme mapping rather than from a documented borrowing chain. The correct French form is viole de gambe, spelled V-I-O-L-E- -D-E- -G-A-M-B-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Luth à cordes frottées, tenu verticalement entre les jambes à la manière du violoncelle, mais à la touche garnie de frettes.

Synonyms

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 "viole de gambe"?
"viole de gambe" is spelled V-I-O-L-E- -D-E- -G-A-M-B-E. The IPA pronunciation is \vjɔl də ɡɑ̃b\.
What does "viole de gambe" mean?
As a noun, "viole de gambe" means: Luth à cordes frottées, tenu verticalement entre les jambes à la manière du violoncelle, mais à la touche garnie de frettes.
How do you pronounce "viole de gambe"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "viole de gambe" is \vjɔl də ɡɑ̃b\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "viole de gambe" come from?
"viole de gambe" 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 “viole de gambe”

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

  • The one correct French spelling is V-I-O-L-E- -D-E- -G-A-M-B-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as \vjɔl də ɡɑ̃b\ (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