CousinevscuisineWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#7,170
“Cousine” frequency rank
#1,474
“cuisine” frequency rank
8644
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Cousine cuisine
Definition Cousine. Pièce où l’on prépare et fait cuire les aliments.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set Cousine and cuisine apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
Cousine
7 ch
cuisine

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. Cousine (\kuˈziː.nə\) and cuisine (\kɥi.zin\) 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 8644, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Cousine is recorded at frequency rank #7,170, classified as anoun, pronounced \kuˈziː.nə\. cuisine is at rank #1,474, tagged as anoun, pronounced \kɥi.zin\.

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 8644, this pair ranks #419,329 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Cousine vs cuisine

Shared letters: ceinsu. Private to "Cousine": o. Private to "cuisine": -.

"Cousine" · 7 letters · shape CVVCVCV  ·  "cuisine" · 7 letters · shape CVVCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Cousineccousine · cosuine · couisne · cousien · cousinne · cousnie · coussine · cuosine
  • cuisineccuisine · ciusine · cuiisne · cuisien · cuisinne · cuisnie · cuissine · cusiine

Frequency comparison

Cousine#7,170
cuisine#1,474

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Cousine" and "cuisine" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\kuˈziː.nə\ versus \kɥi.zin\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Cousine" or "cuisine"?
"cuisine" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,474 in our French list, against #7,170 for "Cousine". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering Cousine vs cuisine

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 “Cousine” 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