quichevsquinceWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“quiche” and “quince” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#46,126
“quiche” frequency rank
#34,657
“quince” frequency rank
80783
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature quiche quince
Definition A pie made primarily of egg and cream, perhaps mixed with chopped meat or vegetables, in a pastry crust. The pear-shaped fruit of a small tree of the rose family, Cydonia oblonga.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set quiche and quince apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
quiche
6 ch
quince

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. quiche (/kiːʃ/) and quince (/kwɪns/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 80783, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

quiche is recorded at frequency rank #46,126, classified as anoun, pronounced /kiːʃ/. quince is at rank #34,657, tagged as anoun, pronounced /kwɪns/.

Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.

With a confusion score of 80783, this pair ranks #19,078 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of quiche vs quince

Shared letters: ceiqu. Private to "quiche": h. Private to "quince": n.

"quiche" · 6 letters · shape CVVCCV  ·  "quince" · 6 letters · shape CVVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • quicheqiuche · qquiche · qucihe · quicche · quiceh · quichhe · quihce · uqiche
  • quinceqiunce · qquince · quicne · quincce · quinec · quinnce · qunice · uqince

Frequency comparison

quiche#46,126
quince#34,657

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "quiche" and "quince" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/kiːʃ/ versus /kwɪns/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "quiche" or "quince"?
"quince" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #34,657 in our English list, against #46,126 for "quiche". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering quiche vs quince

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “quiche” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list