Which to use
“basil” and “basilic” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #37,195
- “basil” frequency rank
- #23,462
- “basilic” frequency rank
- 60657
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | basil | basilic |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Basilic (Ocimum basilicum). | Nom donné à diverses plantes annuelles ou perennes du genre Ocimum, de la famille des Lamiacées (Lamiaceae) dont certaines espèces sont utilisées et cultivées comme plantes aromatiques et condimentaires. Ce nom est aussi parfois donné à d’autres plantes aromatiques proches, de la même famille mais d’un genre différent. |
Where the eye mixes basil and basilic
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses basil with basilic
A purely visual mix-up. basil (\ˈbæz.əl\) and basilic (\ba.zi.lik\) 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 extra letter(s) - “basil” sits inside “basilic”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 60657, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
basil is recorded at frequency rank #37,195, classified as anoun, pronounced \ˈbæz.əl\. basilic is at rank #23,462, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ba.zi.lik\.
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 60657, this pair ranks #96,480 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of basil vs basilic
Shared letters: abils. Private to "basil": -. Private to "basilic": c.
"basil" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "basilic" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "basil" for "basilic" ever safe?
In ordinary French text, does "basil" or "basilic" show up more?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "basil" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "basilic" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #96,480 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "basil" and "basilic" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "basale vs basil". 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 #96,480 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.