Which to use
“ciel” and “cil” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #1,085
- “ciel” frequency rank
- #33,611
- “cil” frequency rank
- 34696
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ciel | cil |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Espace immense dans lequel se meuvent tous les astres. | Poil des paupières. |
Where the eye mixes ciel and cil
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: ciel vs cil
A purely visual mix-up. ciel (\sjɛl\) and cil (\sil\) 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 34696, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
ciel is recorded at frequency rank #1,085, classified as anoun, pronounced \sjɛl\. cil is at rank #33,611, tagged as anoun, pronounced \sil\.
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 34696, this pair ranks #282,039 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of ciel vs cil
Shared letters: cil. Private to "ciel": e. Private to "cil": -.
"ciel" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "cil" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- ciel ← cciel · ceil · ciell · cile · icel
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "ciel" for "cil" ever safe?
Which is more common, "ciel" or "cil"?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "ciel" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "cil" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #282,039 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "ciel" and "cil" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cil vs ciro". 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 #282,039 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.