Which to use
“cochon” and “cocon” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #7,800
- “cochon” frequency rank
- #25,930
- “cocon” frequency rank
- 33730
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | cochon | cocon |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Mammifère domestique, ongulé de l’ordre des suidés ; porc. | Enveloppe que se filent beaucoup de larves d’insectes, et dans laquelle doit s’opérer leur dernière mue. |
Where the eye mixes cochon and cocon
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses cochon with cocon
A purely visual mix-up. cochon (\kɔ.ʃɔ̃\) and cocon (\kɔ.kɔ̃\) 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 33730, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
cochon is recorded at frequency rank #7,800, classified as anoun, pronounced \kɔ.ʃɔ̃\. cocon is at rank #25,930, tagged as anoun, pronounced \kɔ.kɔ̃\.
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 33730, this pair ranks #288,668 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of cochon vs cocon
Shared letters: cno. Private to "cochon": h. Private to "cocon": -.
"cochon" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "cocon" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "cochon" for "cocon" ever safe?
Frequency check: "cochon" vs "cocon" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "cochon" and "cocon" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "cochon" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "cocon" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #288,668 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "cochon" and "cocon" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cocon vs croco". 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 #288,668 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.