caleçonvscalepinWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#20,073
“caleçon” frequency rank
#47,201
“calepin” frequency rank
67274
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature caleçon calepin
Definition Vêtement de dessous en forme de pantalon ou de culotte et qui couvre le corps depuis la ceinture jusqu’à mi-cuisse, jusqu’aux genoux ou jusqu’à la cheville. Carnet de poche où l’on note des indications, des renseignements, des impressions, etc.

Where the eye mixes caleçon and calepin

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. caleçon and calepin follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

7 ch
caleçon
7 ch
calepin

Look-alike desk: caleçon vs calepin

A purely visual mix-up. caleçon (\kal.sɔ̃\) and calepin (\kal.pɛ̃\) 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 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 67274, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

caleçon is recorded at frequency rank #20,073, classified as anoun, pronounced \kal.sɔ̃\. calepin is at rank #47,201, tagged as anoun, pronounced \kal.pɛ̃\.

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 67274, this pair ranks #64,114 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of caleçon vs calepin

Shared letters: aceln. Private to "caleçon": oç. Private to "calepin": ip.

"caleçon" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC  ·  "calepin" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • calepin ← aclepin · caelpin · caleipn · calepinn · calepni · caleppin · callepin · calpein

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "caleçon" and "calepin" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (\kal.sɔ̃\ versus \kal.pɛ̃\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "caleçon" or "calepin"?
"caleçon" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #20,073 in our French list, against #47,201 for "calepin". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "caleçon" and "calepin" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "caleçon" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "calepin" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #64,114 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "caleçon" and "calepin" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "calepin vs câlin". 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 #64,114 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