Which to use
“coït” and “côte” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #41,723
- “coït” frequency rank
- #1,288
- “côte” frequency rank
- 43011
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | coït | côte |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Accouplement sexuel. | Chacun des os qui forment la cage thoracique. |
Where the eye mixes coït and côte
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses coït with côte
A purely visual mix-up. coït (\kɔ.it\) and côte (\kot\) 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 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 43011, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
coït is recorded at frequency rank #41,723, classified as anoun, pronounced \kɔ.it\. côte is at rank #1,288, tagged as anoun, pronounced \kot\.
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 43011, this pair ranks #221,272 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of coït vs côte
Shared letters: ct. Private to "coït": oï. Private to "côte": eô.
"coït" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "côte" · 4 letters · shape CVCV
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "coït" for "côte" ever safe?
In ordinary French text, does "coït" or "côte" show up more?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "coït" and "côte" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "coït" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "côte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #221,272 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "coït" and "côte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "coït vs coon". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #221,272 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.