Which to use
“causse” and “cosse” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #41,174
- “causse” frequency rank
- #33,195
- “cosse” frequency rank
- 74369
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | causse | cosse |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Nom donné dans le Massif Central à de hauts plateaux calcaires nus et arides. | Enveloppe de la graine, gousse, écorce. |
Where the eye mixes causse and cosse
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. causse runs 6 letters (CVVCCV) against cosse's 5 (CVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses causse with cosse
A purely visual mix-up. causse (\kos\) and cosse (\kɔs\) 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 74369, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
causse is recorded at frequency rank #41,174, classified as anoun, pronounced \kos\. cosse is at rank #33,195, tagged as anoun, pronounced \kɔs\.
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 74369, this pair ranks #37,370 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of causse vs cosse
Shared letters: ces. Private to "causse": au. Private to "cosse": o.
"causse" · 6 letters · shape CVVCCV · "cosse" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "causse" and "cosse" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "causse" vs "cosse" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "causse" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "cosse" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #37,370 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "causse" and "cosse" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "causse vs causses". 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 #37,370 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.