cuvesvscuvierWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#21,588
“cuves” frequency rank
#36,791
“cuvier” frequency rank
58379
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature cuves cuvier
Definition Pluriel de cuve. Cuve où l’on fait la lessive, où l’on prend son bain.

Where the eye mixes cuves and cuvier

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

5 ch
cuves
6 ch
cuvier

Look-alike desk: cuves vs cuvier

A purely visual mix-up. cuves (\kyv\) and cuvier (\ky.vje\) 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 58379, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

cuves is recorded at frequency rank #21,588, classified as anoun, pronounced \kyv\. cuvier is at rank #36,791, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ky.vje\.

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 58379, this pair ranks #109,396 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of cuves vs cuvier

Shared letters: ceuv. Private to "cuves": s. Private to "cuvier": ir.

"cuves" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "cuvier" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • cuvesccuves · cuevs · cuvess · cuvse · cuvves · cvues · ucves
  • cuvierccuvier · cuveir · cuvierr · cuvvier · cvuier · ucvier

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "cuves" and "cuvier" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\kyv\ versus \ky.vje\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary French text, does "cuves" or "cuvier" show up more?
"cuves" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #21,588 in our French list, against #36,791 for "cuvier". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "cuves" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "cuvier" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #109,396 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "cuves" and "cuvier" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cuvées vs cuvier". 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 #109,396 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list