Which to use
“centime” and “centre” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #16,827
- “centime” frequency rank
- #344
- “centre” frequency rank
- 17171
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | centime | centre |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | La centième partie du franc. | 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 eye mixes centime and centre
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. centime runs 7 letters (CVCCVCV) against centre's 6 (CVCCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses centime with centre
A purely visual mix-up. centime (\sɑ̃.tim\) 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 17171, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
centime is recorded at frequency rank #16,827, classified as anoun, pronounced \sɑ̃.tim\. 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 17171, this pair ranks #384,450 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of centime vs centre
Shared letters: cent. Private to "centime": im. Private to "centre": r.
"centime" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV · "centre" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "centime" and "centre" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "centime" vs "centre" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "centime" and "centre" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "centime" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "centre" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #384,450 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "centime" and "centre" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "centers vs centre". 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 #384,450 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.