Which to use
“cire” and “code” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #9,617
- “cire” frequency rank
- #818
- “code” frequency rank
- 10435
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | cire | code |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Ester d'éthylène glycol et d'acides gras. | Ensemble de lois ou d’ordonnances relatives à une matière spéciale ou réunies par le législateur. |
Where the eye mixes cire and code
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between cire and code
A purely visual mix-up. cire (\siʁ\) and code (\kɔd\) 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 10435, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
cire is recorded at frequency rank #9,617, classified as anoun, pronounced \siʁ\. code is at rank #818, tagged as anoun, pronounced \kɔd\.
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 10435, this pair ranks #413,022 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of cire vs code
Shared letters: ce. Private to "cire": ir. Private to "code": do.
"cire" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "code" · 4 letters · shape CVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "cire" for "code" ever safe?
Frequency check: "cire" vs "code" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "cire" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "code" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #413,022 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "cire" and "code" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cire 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 #413,022 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.