Which to use
“côte” and “coyote” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #1,288
- “côte” frequency rank
- #27,024
- “coyote” frequency rank
- 28312
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | côte | coyote |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Chacun des os qui forment la cage thoracique. | Mammifère carnivore de la famille des canidés (Canis latrans), originaire d’Amérique du Nord, qui ressemble à un petit loup. |
Where the eye mixes côte and coyote
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses côte with coyote
A purely visual mix-up. côte (\kot\) and coyote (\kɔ.jɔt\) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 28312, 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\. coyote is at rank #27,024, tagged as anoun, pronounced \kɔ.jɔt\.
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 28312, this pair ranks #323,621 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of côte vs coyote
Shared letters: cet. Private to "côte": ô. Private to "coyote": oy.
"côte" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "coyote" · 6 letters · shape CVVVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- coyote ← ccoyote · cooyte · coyoet · coyotte · coytoe · coyyote · cyoote · ocyote
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "côte" and "coyote" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "côte" vs "coyote" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "côte" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "coyote" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #323,621 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "côte" and "coyote" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Cooke vs coyote". 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 #323,621 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.