Which to use
“cerveau” and “corbeau” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #1,730
- “cerveau” frequency rank
- #16,329
- “corbeau” frequency rank
- 18059
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | cerveau | corbeau |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Organe central supervisant le système nerveux des animaux présentant une céphalisation ; encéphale. | Nom vernaculaire du grand corbeau (Corvus corax), gros oiseau passereau carnassier à plumage noir et au bec fort et noir. |
Where the eye mixes cerveau and corbeau
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. cerveau and corbeau follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVVV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses cerveau with corbeau
A purely visual mix-up. cerveau (\sɛʁ.vo\) and corbeau (\kɔʁ.bo\) 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 18059, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
cerveau is recorded at frequency rank #1,730, classified as anoun, pronounced \sɛʁ.vo\. corbeau is at rank #16,329, tagged as anoun, pronounced \kɔʁ.bo\.
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 18059, this pair ranks #380,191 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of cerveau vs corbeau
Shared letters: aceru. Private to "cerveau": v. Private to "corbeau": bo.
"cerveau" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVVV · "corbeau" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVVV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "cerveau" and "corbeau" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "cerveau" or "corbeau"?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "cerveau" and "corbeau" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "cerveau" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "corbeau" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #380,191 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "cerveau" and "corbeau" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cerceau vs corbeau". 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 #380,191 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.