Which to use
“décèle” and “découle” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #46,127
- “décèle” frequency rank
- #11,390
- “découle” frequency rank
- 57517
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | décèle | découle |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Première personne du singulier de l’indicatif présent de déceler. | Première personne du singulier de l’indicatif présent de découler. |
Where the eye mixes décèle and découle
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. décèle runs 6 letters (CVCVCV) against découle's 7 (CVCVVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between décèle and découle
A purely visual mix-up. décèle (\de.sɛl\) and découle (\de.kul\) 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 57517, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
décèle is recorded at frequency rank #46,127, classified as averb, pronounced \de.sɛl\. découle is at rank #11,390, tagged as averb, pronounced \de.kul\.
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 57517, this pair ranks #114,566 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of décèle vs découle
Shared letters: cdelé. Private to "décèle": è. Private to "découle": ou.
"décèle" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV · "découle" · 7 letters · shape CVCVVCV
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "décèle" and "découle" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary French text, does "décèle" or "découle" show up more?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "décèle" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "découle" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #114,566 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "décèle" and "découle" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "décèle vs dèche". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #114,566 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.