Which to use
“circ” and “clerc” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #39,213
- “circ” frequency rank
- #16,093
- “clerc” frequency rank
- 55306
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | circ | clerc |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Cirque, lieu destiné, chez les Romains, à accueillir les jeux publics | Personne qui est entrée dans l’état ecclésiastique en recevant la tonsure. |
Where the eye mixes circ and clerc
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses circ with clerc
A purely visual mix-up. circ (\ˈsiɾk\) and clerc (\klɛʁ\) 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 55306, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
circ is recorded at frequency rank #39,213, classified as anoun, pronounced \ˈsiɾk\. clerc is at rank #16,093, tagged as anoun, pronounced \klɛʁ\.
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 55306, this pair ranks #128,306 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of circ vs clerc
Shared letters: cr. Private to "circ": i. Private to "clerc": el.
"circ" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "clerc" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "circ" and "clerc" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary French text, does "circ" or "clerc" show up more?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "circ" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "clerc" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #128,306 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "circ" and "clerc" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "circ 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 #128,306 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.