Which to use
“cabaye” and “cobayes” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #27,714
- “cabaye” frequency rank
- #28,487
- “cobayes” frequency rank
- 56201
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | cabaye | cobayes |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Autre orthographe de cabaille. | Pluriel de cobaye. |
Where the eye mixes cabaye and cobayes
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. cabaye runs 6 letters (CVCVVV) against cobayes's 7 (CVCVVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses cabaye with cobayes
A purely visual mix-up. cabaye (\ka.baj\) and cobayes (\kɔ.baj\) 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 56201, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
cabaye is recorded at frequency rank #27,714, classified as anoun, pronounced \ka.baj\. cobayes is at rank #28,487, tagged as anoun, pronounced \kɔ.baj\.
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 56201, this pair ranks #122,578 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of cabaye vs cobayes
Shared letters: abcey. Private to "cabaye": -. Private to "cobayes": os.
"cabaye" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVV · "cobayes" · 7 letters · shape CVCVVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "cabaye" and "cobayes" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "cabaye" vs "cobayes" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "cabaye" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "cobayes" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #122,578 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "cabaye" and "cobayes" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cabaye vs câblage". 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 #122,578 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.