Which to use
“autorisation” and “autorisations” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #2,704
- “autorisation” frequency rank
- #13,736
- “autorisations” frequency rank
- 16440
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | autorisation | autorisations |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Action d’autoriser. | Pluriel de autorisation. |
Where the eye mixes autorisation and autorisations
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 12 letters in sequence. autorisation runs 12 letters (VVCVCVCVCVVC) against autorisations's 13 (VVCVCVCVCVVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses autorisation with autorisations
A purely visual mix-up. autorisation (\o.to.ʁi.za.sjɔ̃\) and autorisations (\ɔ.tɔ.ʁi.za.sjɔ̃\) 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 1 extra letter(s) - “autorisation” sits inside “autorisations”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 16440, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
autorisation is recorded at frequency rank #2,704, classified as anoun, pronounced \o.to.ʁi.za.sjɔ̃\. autorisations is at rank #13,736, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ɔ.tɔ.ʁi.za.sjɔ̃\.
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 16440, this pair ranks #387,845 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of autorisation vs autorisations
Shared letters: ainorstu. Private to "autorisation": -. Private to "autorisations": -.
"autorisation" · 12 letters · shape VVCVCVCVCVVC · "autorisations" · 13 letters · shape VVCVCVCVCVVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- autorisation ← atuorisation · auotrisation · autoirsation · autoriastion · autorisaiton · autorisatino · autorisationn · autorisatoin
- autorisations ← atuorisations · auotrisations · autoirsations · autoriastions · autorisaitons · autorisatinos · autorisationns · autorisationss
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "autorisation" and "autorisations" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "autorisation" vs "autorisations" - which ranks higher?
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 "autorisation" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "autorisations" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #387,845 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #387,845 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.