Français homophones

ceint/sain/sains/saint/saints/sein/seing/seins

"ceint" is a verb; "sain" is an adjective - grammar picks the spelling, not sound. Size rank #3 of 9,139 French groups.

Data vintage 2026-05-06

Grammar picks the spelling

Same sound, different grammar: "ceint" arrives as a verb, while "sain" is an adjective. Once the sentence role is fixed, only one spelling fits.

Spelling pairs in this cluster

No shared spelling stem: "ceint" is 5 letters, "sain" is 4; only the sound ties them.
No shared spelling stem: "ceint" is 5 letters, "sains" is 5; only the sound ties them.
No shared spelling stem: "ceint" is 5 letters, "saint" is 5; only the sound ties them.
No shared spelling stem: "ceint" is 5 letters, "saints" is 6; only the sound ties them.
No shared spelling stem: "ceint" is 5 letters, "sein" is 4; only the sound ties them.
No shared spelling stem: "ceint" is 5 letters, "seing" is 5; only the sound ties them.
No shared spelling stem: "ceint" is 5 letters, "seins" is 5; only the sound ties them.
Shared stem "sain" then splits - "sain" (4 letters) vs "sains" (5).
Shared stem "sain" then splits - "sain" (4 letters) vs "saint" (5).
Shared stem "sain" then splits - "sain" (4 letters) vs "saints" (6).
No shared spelling stem: "sain" is 4 letters, "sein" is 4; only the sound ties them.
No shared spelling stem: "sain" is 4 letters, "seing" is 5; only the sound ties them.
No shared spelling stem: "sain" is 4 letters, "seins" is 5; only the sound ties them.
Single-letter fork: "sains" keeps s, "saint" writes t at letter 5.
Shared stem "sain" then splits - "sains" (5 letters) vs "saints" (6).
No shared spelling stem: "sains" is 5 letters, "sein" is 4; only the sound ties them.
No shared spelling stem: "sains" is 5 letters, "seing" is 5; only the sound ties them.
No shared spelling stem: "sains" is 5 letters, "seins" is 5; only the sound ties them.
Shared stem "saint" then splits - "saint" (5 letters) vs "saints" (6).
No shared spelling stem: "saint" is 5 letters, "sein" is 4; only the sound ties them.
No shared spelling stem: "saint" is 5 letters, "seing" is 5; only the sound ties them.
No shared spelling stem: "saint" is 5 letters, "seins" is 5; only the sound ties them.
No shared spelling stem: "saints" is 6 letters, "sein" is 4; only the sound ties them.
No shared spelling stem: "saints" is 6 letters, "seing" is 5; only the sound ties them.
No shared spelling stem: "saints" is 6 letters, "seins" is 5; only the sound ties them.
Shared stem "sein" then splits - "sein" (4 letters) vs "seing" (5).
Shared stem "sein" then splits - "sein" (4 letters) vs "seins" (5).
Single-letter fork: "seing" keeps g, "seins" writes s at letter 5.

Orthographic DNA of this cluster

Shared letters across ceint, sain, sains, saint, saints, sein, seing, seins: in. Private letters are the ones only one spelling owns: the eye's fastest tell once sound is out of the picture.

ceint
5 letters · 2 vowels · shape CVVCC
Inventory ceint · private cet
sain
4 letters · 2 vowels · shape CVVC
Inventory ains · private as
sains
5 letters · 2 vowels · shape CVVCC
Inventory ains · private as
saint
5 letters · 2 vowels · shape CVVCC
Inventory ainst · private ast
saints
6 letters · 2 vowels · shape CVVCCC
Inventory ainst · private ast
sein
4 letters · 2 vowels · shape CVVC
Inventory eins · private es
seing
5 letters · 2 vowels · shape CVVCC
Inventory egins · private egs
seins
5 letters · 2 vowels · shape CVVCC
Inventory eins · private es

Pick the spelling from the meaning

Write "ceint" when you mean: Participe passé masculin singulier de ceindre.
Write "sain" when you mean: Qui est de bonne constitution, qui n’a pas de tares en son organisme. Qui n’est pas altéré, qui est en bon état.
Write "sains" when you mean: Masculin pluriel de sain.
Write "saint" when you mean: Pur, souverainement parfait et bienheureux.
Write "saints" when you mean: Chez saint Paul, ensemble des personnes qui croient en Jésus ressuscité.
Write "sein" when you mean: Partie antérieure du thorax humain, où se trouvent les mamelles.
Write "seing" when you mean: Nom de quelqu’un écrit par lui-même au bas d’une lettre, d’un acte, pour le certifier, pour le confirmer, pour le rendre valable.
Write "seins" when you mean: Pluriel de sein.

Known mistypes of these spellings

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

ceint ← cceint · ceinnt · ceintt · ceitn · cenit · cient
sain ← asin · sainn · sani · sian · ssain
sains ← asins · sainns · sainss · saisn · sanis · sians
saint ← asint · sainnt · saintt · saitn · sanit · siant
saints ← asints · sainnts · sainst · saintss · saintts · saitns
sein ← esin · seinn · seni · ssein
seing ← esing · seign · seingg · seinng · senig · sieng
seins ← esins · seinns · seinss · seisn · senis · sseins

Each spelling

ceint

verb · /\sɛ̃\/ · #46,637 frequency

Participe passé masculin singulier de ceindre.

sain

adjective · /\sɛ̃\/ · #6,135 frequency

Qui est de bonne constitution, qui n’a pas de tares en son organisme. Qui n’est pas altéré, qui est en bon état.

sains

adjective · /\sɛ̃\/ · #12,474 frequency

Masculin pluriel de sain.

saint

adjective · /\sɛ̃\/ · #236 frequency

Pur, souverainement parfait et bienheureux.

saints

noun · /\sɛ̃\/ · #5,398 frequency

Chez saint Paul, ensemble des personnes qui croient en Jésus ressuscité.

sein

noun · /\sɛ̃\/ · #746 frequency

Partie antérieure du thorax humain, où se trouvent les mamelles.

seing

noun · /\sɛ̃\/ · #38,041 frequency

Nom de quelqu’un écrit par lui-même au bas d’une lettre, d’un acte, pour le certifier, pour le confirmer, pour le rendre valable.

seins

noun · /\sɛ̃\/ · #4,099 frequency

Pluriel de sein.