cdr vs cèdre, What's the Difference?

Which to use

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

#39,697
“cdr” frequency rank: #28,508
“cèdre” frequency rank: 68205
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	cdr	cèdre
Definition	La seconde partie du doublet en LISP, qui pointe le reste d’une liste.	Espèce d’arbre du genre Cedrus, conifère de grande taille de la famille des Pinacées, aux branches horizontales en plans superposés et à cônes globuleux et dressés, souvent utilisé pour l’ornementation et dont le bois passe pour incorruptible.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set cdr and cèdre apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

3 ch

cdr

5 ch

cèdre

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. cdr (\ku.dœʁ\) and cèdre (\sɛdʁ\) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 68205, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

cdr is recorded at frequency rank #39,697, classified as anoun, pronounced \ku.dœʁ\. cèdre is at rank #28,508, tagged as anoun, pronounced \sɛdʁ\.

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 68205, this pair ranks #60,117 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of cdr vs cèdre

Shared letters: cdr. Private to "cdr": -. Private to "cèdre": eè.

"cdr" · 3 letters · shape CCC · "cèdre" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Frequency comparison

cdr#39,697

cèdre#28,508

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "cdr" and "cèdre" be used interchangeably?

No. They are said differently (\ku.dœʁ\ versus \sɛdʁ\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.

Which is more common, "cdr" or "cèdre"?

"cèdre" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #28,508 in our French list, against #39,697 for "cdr". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering cdr vs cèdre

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “cdr” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable