Which to use
“caste” and “cesse” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #16,315
- “caste” frequency rank
- #2,464
- “cesse” frequency rank
- 18779
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | caste | cesse |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Chacune des tribus ou classes qui partagent la société de certains pays comme l’Inde ou l’ancienne Égypte. | Fin, relâche. |
Where the eye mixes caste and cesse
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between caste and cesse
A purely visual mix-up. caste (\kast\) and cesse (\sɛs\) 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 18779, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
caste is recorded at frequency rank #16,315, classified as anoun, pronounced \kast\. cesse is at rank #2,464, tagged as anoun, pronounced \sɛs\.
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 18779, this pair ranks #376,619 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of caste vs cesse
Shared letters: ces. Private to "caste": at. Private to "cesse": -.
"caste" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "cesse" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "caste" and "cesse" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary French text, does "caste" or "cesse" show up more?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "caste" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "cesse" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #376,619 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "caste" and "cesse" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "caste vs casus". 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 #376,619 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.