Which to use
“cens” and “cese” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #39,698
- “cens” frequency rank
- #47,212
- “cese” frequency rank
- 86910
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | cens | cese |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Redevance de toute nature que certains biens devaient annuellement au seigneur du fief dont ils relevaient. | Cessation, action de cesser. |
Where the eye mixes cens and cese
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. cens (CVCC) and cese (CVCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Look-alike desk: cens vs cese
A purely visual mix-up. cens (\sɑ̃s\) and cese (\ˈθese\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 86910, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
cens is recorded at frequency rank #39,698, classified as anoun, pronounced \sɑ̃s\. cese is at rank #47,212, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ˈθese\.
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 86910, this pair ranks #9,022 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of cens vs cese
Shared letters: ces. Private to "cens": n. Private to "cese": -.
"cens" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "cese" · 4 letters · shape CVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "cens" and "cese" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary French text, does "cens" or "cese" show up more?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "cens" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "cese" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #9,022 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "cens" and "cese" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "CCE vs cese". 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 #9,022 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.