coinvscorbinWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

“coin” and “corbin” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#1,435
“coin” frequency rank
#38,729
“corbin” frequency rank
40164
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature coin corbin
Definition Pièce de fer ou de bois ou de toute autre matière dure, de forme prismatique, dont on se sert principalement pour fendre du bois, des pierres, en la faisant entrer de force avec un maillet ou un marteau. Ancien synonyme de corbeau ou de grand corbeau (oiseau).

Where the eye mixes coin and corbin

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

4 ch
coin
6 ch
corbin

Why the eye confuses coin with corbin

A purely visual mix-up. coin (\kwɛ̃\) and corbin (\kɔʁ.bɛ̃\) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 40164, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

coin is recorded at frequency rank #1,435, classified as anoun, pronounced \kwɛ̃\. corbin is at rank #38,729, tagged as anoun, pronounced \kɔʁ.bɛ̃\.

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 40164, this pair ranks #242,553 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of coin vs corbin

Shared letters: cino. Private to "coin": -. Private to "corbin": br.

"coin" · 4 letters · shape CVVC  ·  "corbin" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • coinccoin · cion · coinn · coni · ocin
  • corbinccorbin · cobrin · corbbin · corbinn · corbni · coribn · corrbin · crobin

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "coin" and "corbin" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\kwɛ̃\ versus \kɔʁ.bɛ̃\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "coin" or "corbin"?
"coin" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,435 in our French list, against #38,729 for "corbin". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

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 "coin" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "corbin" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #242,553 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "coin" and "corbin" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cardin vs corbin". 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 #242,553 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list