Which to use
“calque” and “cirque” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #32,328
- “calque” frequency rank
- #4,922
- “cirque” frequency rank
- 37250
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | calque | cirque |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Reproduction obtenue en calquant. | Lieu destiné, chez les Romains, à accueillir les jeux publics, et particulièrement les diverses formes de lutte et les courses de chevaux et de chars. |
Where the eye mixes calque and cirque
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses calque with cirque
A purely visual mix-up. calque (\kalk\) and cirque (\siʁk\) 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 37250, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
calque is recorded at frequency rank #32,328, classified as anoun, pronounced \kalk\. cirque is at rank #4,922, tagged as anoun, pronounced \siʁk\.
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 37250, this pair ranks #263,818 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of calque vs cirque
Shared letters: cequ. Private to "calque": al. Private to "cirque": ir.
"calque" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVV · "cirque" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "calque" for "cirque" ever safe?
Frequency check: "calque" vs "cirque" - 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 "calque" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "cirque" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #263,818 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "calque" and "cirque" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "calée vs calque". 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 #263,818 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.