cèdrevschèvreConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#28,508
“cèdre” frequency rank
#8,214
“chèvre” frequency rank
36722
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature cèdre chèvre
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. Genre de mammifère de l’ordre des ruminants, à cornes creuses et persistantes et à menton garni d’une barbe.

Where the eye mixes cèdre and chèvre

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

5 ch
cèdre
6 ch
chèvre

Look-alike desk: cèdre vs chèvre

A purely visual mix-up. cèdre (\sɛdʁ\) and chèvre (\ʃɛvʁ\) 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 36722, 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\. chèvre is at rank #8,214, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ʃɛvʁ\.

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 36722, this pair ranks #267,579 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of cèdre vs chèvre

Shared letters: cerè. Private to "cèdre": d. Private to "chèvre": hv.

"cèdre" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "chèvre" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCV

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "cèdre" and "chèvre" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (\sɛdʁ\ versus \ʃɛvʁ\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary French text, does "cèdre" or "chèvre" show up more?
"chèvre" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,214 in our French list, against #28,508 for "cèdre". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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 "cèdre" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "chèvre" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #267,579 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "cèdre" and "chèvre" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cedar vs cèdre". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #267,579 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list