Which to use
“chaînon” and “chaton” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #43,337
- “chaînon” frequency rank
- #14,880
- “chaton” frequency rank
- 58217
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | chaînon | chaton |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Anneau d’une chaîne. | Jeune chat, mâle ou femelle, qui n’a pas encore atteint l’âge adulte. Pour une femelle on peut plus particulièrement parler de chatonne. |
Where the eye mixes chaînon and chaton
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between chaînon and chaton
A purely visual mix-up. chaînon (\ʃɛ.nɔ̃\) and chaton (\ʃa.tɔ̃\) 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 58217, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
chaînon is recorded at frequency rank #43,337, classified as anoun, pronounced \ʃɛ.nɔ̃\. chaton is at rank #14,880, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ʃa.tɔ̃\.
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 58217, this pair ranks #110,343 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of chaînon vs chaton
Shared letters: achno. Private to "chaînon": î. Private to "chaton": t.
"chaînon" · 7 letters · shape CCVVCVC · "chaton" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- chaton ← cahton · cchaton · chaotn · chatno · chatonn · chatton · chhaton · chtaon
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "chaînon" and "chaton" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "chaînon" vs "chaton" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "chaînon" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "chaton" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #110,343 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "chaînon" and "chaton" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "chaînon vs chiron". 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 #110,343 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.