Which to use
“cuir” is a noun and “cuire” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #4,847
- “cuir” frequency rank
- #7,947
- “cuire” frequency rank
- 12794
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | cuir | cuire |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Peau épaisse de certains animaux. | Préparer les aliments par le moyen du feu, de la chaleur, pour les rendre propres à être mangés. Devenir propre à être mangé ou propre à tel ou tel usage par le moyen du feu, de la chaleur. |
Same sound, different letters: cuir vs cuire
Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 4 letters.
Same sound, different spelling - cuir / cuire
Say them out loud and nothing separates them: cuir and cuire carry the same recorded pronunciation, \kɥiʁ\. Grammar is what tells them apart: one is anoun, the other averb, so most sentences will only accept one of them. They differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “cuir” sits inside “cuire”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 12794, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
cuir is recorded at frequency rank #4,847, classified as anoun, pronounced \kɥiʁ\. cuire is at rank #7,947, tagged as averb, pronounced \kɥiʁ\.
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 12794, this pair ranks #403,729 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of cuir vs cuire
Shared letters: ciru. Private to "cuir": -. Private to "cuire": e.
"cuir" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "cuire" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "cuir" and "cuire" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary French text, does "cuir" or "cuire" show up more?
Useful next steps
You've separated the homophone pair "cuir" / "cuire". Follow the links when you need the full entry or a neighbour that trips the same ear.
- Full dictionary entry for "cuir" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "cuire" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #403,729 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "cuir" and "cuire" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cuire vs cupide". 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 #403,729 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.