Which to use
“clone” and “clou” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #19,481
- “clone” frequency rank
- #12,128
- “clou” frequency rank
- 31609
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | clone | clou |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Ensemble des êtres vivants issus, par voie asexuée, d’un seul individu et possédant son patrimoine génétique. | Tige rigide, de fer ou d’autre métal, courte, pointue, et à la tête aplatie ou protubérante, qui sert de cheville pour fixer ou à pendre quelque chose. |
Where the eye mixes clone and clou
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between clone and clou
A purely visual mix-up. clone (\klon\) and clou (\klu\) 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 31609, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
clone is recorded at frequency rank #19,481, classified as anoun, pronounced \klon\. clou is at rank #12,128, tagged as anoun, pronounced \klu\.
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 31609, this pair ranks #302,744 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of clone vs clou
Shared letters: clo. Private to "clone": en. Private to "clou": u.
"clone" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV · "clou" · 4 letters · shape CCVV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "clone" and "clou" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "clone" vs "clou" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "clone" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "clou" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #302,744 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "clone" and "clou" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "clone vs conde". 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 #302,744 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.