centimevscentreWhat's the difference?

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 spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set centime and centre apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
centime
6 ch
centre

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

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

  • centimeccentime · cenitme · cenntime · centiem · centimme · centmie · centtime · cetnime
  • centreccentre · cenntre · cenrte · centrre · centtre · cetnre · cnetre · ecntre

Frequency comparison

centime#16,827
centre#344

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "centime" and "centre" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\sɑ̃.tim\ versus \sɑ̃tʁ\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "centime" or "centre"?
"centre" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #344 in our French list, against #16,827 for "centime". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering centime 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 “centime” 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