côtevscoxWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#1,288
“côte” frequency rank
#19,493
“cox” frequency rank
20781
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature côte cox
Definition Chacun des os qui forment la cage thoracique. Variété de pommier.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set côte and cox apart are highlighted. They share 1 letter in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
côte
3 ch
cox

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. côte (\kot\) and cox (\koks\) 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 20781, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

côte is recorded at frequency rank #1,288, classified as anoun, pronounced \kot\. cox is at rank #19,493, tagged as anoun, pronounced \koks\.

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 20781, this pair ranks #366,538 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of côte vs cox

Shared letters: c. Private to "côte": etô. Private to "cox": ox.

"côte" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "cox" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Frequency comparison

côte#1,288
cox#19,493

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "côte" and "cox" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\kot\ versus \koks\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "côte" or "cox"?
"côte" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,288 in our French list, against #19,493 for "cox". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering côte vs cox

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 “côte” 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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list