Which to use
“cédille” and “celle” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #49,589
- “cédille” frequency rank
- #254
- “celle” frequency rank
- 49843
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | cédille | celle |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Signe diacritique de l’alphabet latin en forme de crochet vers la gauche (‹ ◌̧ ›) comme la moitié inférieure de z wisigothique (duquel elle provient), de petit c culbuté ou parfois de petite virgule souscrite. | Compartiment des bains romains. |
Where the eye mixes cédille and celle
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. cédille runs 7 letters (CVCVCCV) against celle's 5 (CVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses cédille with celle
A purely visual mix-up. cédille (\se.dij\) and celle (\sɛl\) 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 49843, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
cédille is recorded at frequency rank #49,589, classified as anoun, pronounced \se.dij\. celle is at rank #254, tagged as anoun, pronounced \sɛl\.
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 49843, this pair ranks #167,459 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of cédille vs celle
Shared letters: cel. Private to "cédille": dié. Private to "celle": -.
"cédille" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCV · "celle" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- celle ← ccelle · cele · celel · clele · eclle
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "cédille" for "celle" ever safe?
Which is more common, "cédille" or "celle"?
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 "cédille" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "celle" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #167,459 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "cédille" and "celle" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cédille vs cueille". 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 #167,459 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.