Which to use
“broc” is a noun and “brun” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #38,177
- “broc” frequency rank
- #5,320
- “brun” frequency rank
- 43497
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | broc | brun |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Récipient portatif d’une assez grande capacité, communément de bois, garni de cercles de fer ou de cuivre, qui a une anse et un bec évasé et dont on se sert ordinairement pour tirer ou transporter de l’eau ou du vin. | De la couleur du marron clair tirant sur le noir. #993300 |
Where the eye mixes broc and brun
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: broc vs brun
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: broc is \bʁo\ while brun is \bʁœ̃\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 43497, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
broc is recorded at frequency rank #38,177, classified as anoun, pronounced \bʁo\. brun is at rank #5,320, tagged as anadj, pronounced \bʁœ̃\.
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 43497, this pair ranks #217,609 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of broc vs brun
Shared letters: br. Private to "broc": co. Private to "brun": nu.
"broc" · 4 letters · shape CCVC · "brun" · 4 letters · shape CCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "broc" for "brun" ever safe?
Frequency check: "broc" vs "brun" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "broc" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "brun" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #217,609 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "broc" and "brun" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "broad vs broc". 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 #217,609 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.