colinvscrinWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#8,822
“colin” frequency rank
#42,257
“crin” frequency rank
51079
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature colin crin
Definition Nom vernaculaire ambigu donné vulgairement à plusieurs genres de poissons osseux de l'ordre des gadiformes, dont les différentes espèces de lieu (Theragra spp. et Pollachius spp.) et le merlu commun (Merlucchius merlucchius), et à deux genres de poissons de l'ordre des perciformes (Dissostichus et Notothenia). Poil long et rude qui pousse au cou, à la queue et aux extrémités inférieures des membres de certains animaux et spécialement des chevaux.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set colin and crin apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
colin
4 ch
crin

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. colin (\kɔ.lɛ̃\) and crin (\kʁɛ̃\) 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 51079, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

colin is recorded at frequency rank #8,822, classified as anoun, pronounced \kɔ.lɛ̃\. crin is at rank #42,257, tagged as anoun, pronounced \kʁɛ̃\.

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 51079, this pair ranks #157,765 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of colin vs crin

Shared letters: cin. Private to "colin": lo. Private to "crin": r.

"colin" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "crin" · 4 letters · shape CCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • colinccolin · cloin · coiln · colinn · colni · oclin
  • crinccrin · cirn · crinn · crni · crrin · rcin

Frequency comparison

colin#8,822
crin#42,257

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "colin" and "crin" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\kɔ.lɛ̃\ versus \kʁɛ̃\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "colin" or "crin"?
"colin" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,822 in our French list, against #42,257 for "crin". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering colin vs crin

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “colin” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list