Which to use
“cornu” and “couru” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #34,963
- “cornu” frequency rank
- #9,459
- “couru” frequency rank
- 44422
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | cornu | couru |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Qui a des cornes. | Fréquenté. |
Where the eye mixes cornu and couru
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between cornu and couru
A purely visual mix-up. cornu (\kɔʁ.ny\) and couru (\ku.ʁy\) 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 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 44422, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
cornu is recorded at frequency rank #34,963, classified as anadj, pronounced \kɔʁ.ny\. couru is at rank #9,459, tagged as anadj, pronounced \ku.ʁy\.
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 44422, this pair ranks #210,596 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of cornu vs couru
Shared letters: coru. Private to "cornu": n. Private to "couru": -.
"cornu" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "couru" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "cornu" for "couru" ever safe?
Which is more common, "cornu" or "couru"?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "cornu" and "couru" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "cornu" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "couru" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #210,596 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "cornu" and "couru" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "coon vs cornu". 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 #210,596 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.