baptêmesvsbarèmesWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#32,296
“baptêmes” frequency rank
#44,326
“barèmes” frequency rank
76622
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature baptêmes barèmes
Definition Pluriel de baptême. Pluriel de barème.

Where the eye mixes baptêmes and barèmes

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. baptêmes runs 8 letters (CVCCVCVC) against barèmes's 7 (CVCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

8 ch
baptêmes
7 ch
barèmes

Why the eye confuses baptêmes with barèmes

A purely visual mix-up. baptêmes (\ba.tɛm\) and barèmes (\ba.ʁɛm\) 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 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 76622, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

baptêmes is recorded at frequency rank #32,296, classified as anoun, pronounced \ba.tɛm\. barèmes is at rank #44,326, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ba.ʁɛm\.

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 76622, this pair ranks #30,599 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of baptêmes vs barèmes

Shared letters: abems. Private to "baptêmes": ptê. Private to "barèmes": rè.

"baptêmes" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC  ·  "barèmes" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "baptêmes" and "barèmes" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\ba.tɛm\ versus \ba.ʁɛm\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "baptêmes" or "barèmes"?
"baptêmes" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #32,296 in our French list, against #44,326 for "barèmes". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "baptêmes" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "barèmes" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #30,599 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "baptêmes" and "barèmes" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "barèmes vs barges". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #30,599 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list