cèdrevscentreWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#28,508
“cèdre” frequency rank
#344
“centre” frequency rank
28852
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature cèdre centre
Definition 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. Point qui, dans un cercle ou une sphère, est à égale distance de tous les points de la circonférence de ce cercle ou de la surface de cette sphère.

Where the spellings diverge

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

5 ch
cèdre
6 ch
centre

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. cèdre (\sɛdʁ\) and centre (\sɑ̃tʁ\) 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 28852, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

cèdre is recorded at frequency rank #28,508, classified as anoun, pronounced \sɛdʁ\. centre is at rank #344, tagged as anoun, pronounced \sɑ̃tʁ\.

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 28852, this pair ranks #320,262 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of cèdre vs centre

Shared letters: cer. Private to "cèdre": . Private to "centre": nt.

"cèdre" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "centre" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • centreccentre · cenntre · cenrte · centrre · centtre · cetnre · cnetre · ecntre

Frequency comparison

cèdre#28,508
centre#344

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "cèdre" and "centre" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\sɛdʁ\ versus \sɑ̃tʁ\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "cèdre" or "centre"?
"centre" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #344 in our French list, against #28,508 for "cèdre". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering cèdre vs centre

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 “cèdre” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list