cernervscognerWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#14,218
“cerner” frequency rank
#20,090
“cogner” frequency rank
34308
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature cerner cogner
Definition Entourer, investir un lieu de manière à ôter toute communication, tout moyen de secours extérieur ou de fuite à ceux qui s’y trouvent. Frapper fort sur une chose pour la faire entrer ou pour la faire joindre avec une autre.

Where the eye mixes cerner and cogner

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

6 ch
cerner
6 ch
cogner

Look-alike desk: cerner vs cogner

A purely visual mix-up. cerner (\sɛʁ.ne\) and cogner (\kɔ.ɲe\) 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 34308, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

cerner is recorded at frequency rank #14,218, classified as averb, pronounced \sɛʁ.ne\. cogner is at rank #20,090, tagged as averb, pronounced \kɔ.ɲe\.

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 34308, this pair ranks #284,729 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of cerner vs cogner

Shared letters: cenr. Private to "cerner": -. Private to "cogner": go.

"cerner" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "cogner" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • cernerccerner · cenrer · cerenr · cernerr · cernner · cernre · cerrner · crener
  • cognerccogner · cgoner · cogenr · coggner · cognerr · cognner · cognre · conger

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "cerner" for "cogner" ever safe?
No. They are said differently (\sɛʁ.ne\ versus \kɔ.ɲe\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "cerner" vs "cogner" - which ranks higher?
"cerner" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #14,218 in our French list, against #20,090 for "cogner". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "cerner" and "cogner" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "cerner" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "cogner" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #284,729 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "cerner" and "cogner" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cogner vs Conner". 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 #284,729 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