capitulevscapsuleConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#46,630
“capitule” frequency rank
#11,008
“capsule” frequency rank
57638
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature capitule capsule
Definition Inflorescence formée de fleurs sessiles serrées les unes contre les autres. Fruit sec déhiscent, contenant de nombreuses graines, qui s'ouvre par plusieurs fentes, parfois par un couvercle ou par des pores.

Where the eye mixes capitule and capsule

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.

8 ch
capitule
7 ch
capsule

Why the eye confuses capitule with capsule

A purely visual mix-up. capitule (\ka.pi.tyl\) and capsule (\kap.syl\) 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 57638, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

capitule is recorded at frequency rank #46,630, classified as anoun, pronounced \ka.pi.tyl\. capsule is at rank #11,008, tagged as anoun, pronounced \kap.syl\.

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 57638, this pair ranks #113,831 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of capitule vs capsule

Shared letters: acelpu. Private to "capitule": it. Private to "capsule": s.

"capitule" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCVCV  ·  "capsule" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • capituleacpitule · caiptule · capitlue · capittule · capituel · capitulle · capiutle · cappitule
  • capsuleacpsule · cappsule · capslue · capssule · capsuel · capsulle · capusle · caspule

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "capitule" for "capsule" ever safe?
No. They are said differently (\ka.pi.tyl\ versus \kap.syl\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "capitule" or "capsule"?
"capsule" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #11,008 in our French list, against #46,630 for "capitule". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "capitule" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "capsule" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #113,831 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "capitule" and "capsule" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "capitals vs capitule". 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 #113,831 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