conceptionvsconceptionsConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#2,220
“conception” frequency rank
#15,336
“conceptions” frequency rank
17556
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature conception conceptions
Definition Action par laquelle un enfant est conçu dans le sein de sa mère quand l’embryon se forme par la rencontre d’un ovule et d’un spermatozoïde. → voir fécondation Pluriel de conception.

Same sound, different letters: conception vs conceptions

Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 10 letters.

10 ch
conception
11 ch
conceptions

Homophone desk: conception vs conceptions

This is the hard kind. conception and conceptions are pronounced identically (\kɔ̃.sɛp.sjɔ̃\) and both work as anoun. Neither the ear nor the grammar will rescue you; only the meaning does, so the glosses below are the whole decision. They differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “conception” sits inside “conceptions”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 17556, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

conception is recorded at frequency rank #2,220, classified as anoun, pronounced \kɔ̃.sɛp.sjɔ̃\. conceptions is at rank #15,336, tagged as anoun, pronounced \kɔ̃.sɛp.sjɔ̃\.

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 17556, this pair ranks #382,583 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of conception vs conceptions

Shared letters: ceinopt. Private to "conception": -. Private to "conceptions": s.

"conception" · 10 letters · shape CVCCVCCVVC  ·  "conceptions" · 11 letters · shape CVCCVCCVVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • conceptioncconception · cnoception · cocneption · concception · concepiton · concepption · conceptino · conceptionn
  • conceptionscconceptions · cnoceptions · cocneptions · concceptions · concepitons · concepptions · conceptinos · conceptionns

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "conception" for "conceptions" ever safe?
No. They are pronounced the same (\kɔ̃.sɛp.sjɔ̃\), which is exactly why they get swapped in writing, but the dictionary meanings above are different, and pronunciation is no guide here.
Frequency check: "conception" vs "conceptions" - which ranks higher?
"conception" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,220 in our French list, against #15,336 for "conceptions". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

You've separated the homophone pair "conception" / "conceptions". Follow the links when you need the full entry or a neighbour that trips the same ear.

  • Full dictionary entry for "conception" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "conceptions" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #382,583 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "conception" and "conceptions" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "concentrons vs conceptions". 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 #382,583 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