Which to use
“baille” and “billes” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #38,665
- “baille” frequency rank
- #15,818
- “billes” frequency rank
- 54483
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | baille | billes |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Demi-futaille à un seul fond, en forme de baquet, qui sert à divers usages. | Pluriel de bille. |
Where the eye mixes baille and billes
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. baille (CVVCCV) and billes (CVCCVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Visual trap between baille and billes
A purely visual mix-up. baille (\baj\) and billes (\bij\) 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 4 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 54483, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
baille is recorded at frequency rank #38,665, classified as anoun, pronounced \baj\. billes is at rank #15,818, tagged as anoun, pronounced \bij\.
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 54483, this pair ranks #133,725 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of baille vs billes
Shared letters: beil. Private to "baille": a. Private to "billes": s.
"baille" · 6 letters · shape CVVCCV · "billes" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "baille" for "billes" ever safe?
Which is more common, "baille" or "billes"?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "baille" and "billes" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "baille" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "billes" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #133,725 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "baille" and "billes" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "baille vs brailler". Nearby pair
- 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 #133,725 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.