Which to use
“cuir” and “cuve” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #4,847
- “cuir” frequency rank
- #14,006
- “cuve” frequency rank
- 18853
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | cuir | cuve |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Peau épaisse de certains animaux. | Grand récipient de bois, de métal ou de maçonnerie dont on se sert ordinairement pour fouler la vendange ou pour y laisser fermenter le vin nouveau avec la grappe, pour faire de la bière et pour divers autres usages. |
Where the eye mixes cuir and cuve
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: cuir vs cuve
A purely visual mix-up. cuir (\kɥiʁ\) and cuve (\kyv\) 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 18853, 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\. cuve is at rank #14,006, tagged as anoun, pronounced \kyv\.
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 18853, this pair ranks #376,257 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of cuir vs cuve
Shared letters: cu. Private to "cuir": ir. Private to "cuve": ev.
"cuir" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "cuve" · 4 letters · shape CVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "cuir" and "cuve" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "cuir" or "cuve"?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "cuir" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "cuve" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #376,257 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "cuir" and "cuve" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "CCE vs cuve". 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 #376,257 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.