Which to use
“aba” and “arc” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #48,886
- “aba” frequency rank
- #3,180
- “arc” frequency rank
- 52066
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | aba | arc |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Manteau de laine en usage en Turquie et dans l’ancienne Perse. | Arme de trait servant à lancer des flèches, formée d’une branche de bois ou d’une verge, soit de métal, soit d’autre matière, courbée avec effort au moyen d’une corde qui s’attache aux deux extrémités. |
Where the eye mixes aba and arc
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.
Look-alike desk: aba vs arc
A purely visual mix-up. aba (\a.ba\) and arc (\aʁk\) 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 52066, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
aba is recorded at frequency rank #48,886, classified as anoun, pronounced \a.ba\. arc is at rank #3,180, tagged as anoun, pronounced \aʁk\.
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 52066, this pair ranks #150,413 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of aba vs arc
Shared letters: a. Private to "aba": b. Private to "arc": cr.
"aba" · 3 letters · shape VCV · "arc" · 3 letters · shape VCC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "aba" for "arc" ever safe?
Which is more common, "aba" or "arc"?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "aba" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "arc" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #150,413 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "aba" and "arc" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "aba vs aur". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #150,413 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.