aimantvsamanWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“aimant” and “aman” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#10,819
“aimant” frequency rank
#39,146
“aman” frequency rank
49965
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature aimant aman
Definition Minéral ou composant générant un champ magnétique, dont une des propriétés est d’attirer le fer. Grâce en droit musulman par laquelle un ennemi vaincu obtient la vie sauve ou une amnistie.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set aimant and aman apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
aimant
4 ch
aman

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. aimant (\ɛ.mɑ̃\) and aman (\a.mɑ̃\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 49965, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

aimant is recorded at frequency rank #10,819, classified as anoun, pronounced \ɛ.mɑ̃\. aman is at rank #39,146, tagged as anoun, pronounced \a.mɑ̃\.

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 49965, this pair ranks #166,426 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of aimant vs aman

Shared letters: amn. Private to "aimant": it. Private to "aman": -.

"aimant" · 6 letters · shape VVCVCC  ·  "aman" · 4 letters · shape VCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • aimantaiamnt · aimannt · aimantt · aimatn · aimmant · aimnat · amiant · iamant
  • amanaamn · amann

Frequency comparison

aimant#10,819
aman#39,146

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "aimant" and "aman" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\ɛ.mɑ̃\ versus \a.mɑ̃\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "aimant" or "aman"?
"aimant" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,819 in our French list, against #39,146 for "aman". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering aimant vs aman

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 “aimant” 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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list