Français homophones

pau/peau/peaux/pot/pots

"peau" (#1,301 written frequency) beats "pot" (#3,954) in this 5-word /\po\/ cluster. Size rank #101 of 9,139 French groups.

Data vintage 2026-05-06

Frequency splits the cluster

These 5 spellings keep the same /\po\/ reading, but written frequency splits them hard: "peau" leads at #1,301, with "pot" trailing at #3,954.

Spelling pairs in this cluster

No shared spelling stem: "pau" is 3 letters, "peau" is 4; only the sound ties them.
No shared spelling stem: "pau" is 3 letters, "peaux" is 5; only the sound ties them.
No shared spelling stem: "pau" is 3 letters, "pot" is 3; only the sound ties them.
No shared spelling stem: "pau" is 3 letters, "pots" is 4; only the sound ties them.
Shared stem "peau" then splits - "peau" (4 letters) vs "peaux" (5).
No shared spelling stem: "peau" is 4 letters, "pot" is 3; only the sound ties them.
No shared spelling stem: "peau" is 4 letters, "pots" is 4; only the sound ties them.
No shared spelling stem: "peaux" is 5 letters, "pot" is 3; only the sound ties them.
No shared spelling stem: "peaux" is 5 letters, "pots" is 4; only the sound ties them.
Shared stem "pot" then splits - "pot" (3 letters) vs "pots" (4).

Orthographic DNA of this cluster

Shared letters across pau, peau, peaux, pot, pots: p. Private letters are the ones only one spelling owns: the eye's fastest tell once sound is out of the picture.

pau
3 letters · 2 vowels · shape CVV
Inventory apu · private au
peau
4 letters · 3 vowels · shape CVVV
Inventory aepu · private aeu
peaux
5 letters · 3 vowels · shape CVVVC
Inventory aepux · private aeux
pot
3 letters · 1 vowels · shape CVC
Inventory opt · private ot
pots
4 letters · 1 vowels · shape CVCC
Inventory opst · private ost

Pick the spelling from the meaning

Write "pau" when you mean: Variante de pal.
Write "peau" when you mean: Enveloppe d’un corps humain ou animal.
Write "peaux" when you mean: Pluriel de peau.
Write "pot" when you mean: Vase de terre, verre, métal, plastique ou autre matière servant à divers usages.
Write "pots" when you mean: Pluriel de pot.

Known mistypes of these spellings

Edit-distance variants recorded against this cluster: useful when a search or OCR feed lands on the wrong form.

peau ← epau · paeu · peua · ppeau
peaux ← epaux · paeux · peauxx · peaxu · peuax · ppeaux
pots ← opts · potss · potts · ppots · ptos

Each spelling

pau

noun · /\po\/ · #8,284 frequency

Variante de pal.

peau

noun · /\po\/ · #1,301 frequency

Enveloppe d’un corps humain ou animal.

peaux

noun · /\po\/ · #11,269 frequency

Pluriel de peau.

pot

noun · /\po\/ · #3,954 frequency

Vase de terre, verre, métal, plastique ou autre matière servant à divers usages.

pots

noun · /\po\/ · #8,442 frequency

Pluriel de pot.