Which to use
“œdème” and “derme” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #34,835
- “œdème” frequency rank
- #46,692
- “derme” frequency rank
- 81527
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | œdème | derme |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Enflure non douloureuse, qui est produite par une infiltration séreuse dans les tissus et qui se distingue des autres enflures parce qu’elle garde quelque temps l’impression des doigts. | Tissu qui forme la partie la plus épaisse de la peau entre l’épiderme et l'hypoderme. |
Where the eye mixes œdème and derme
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. œdème (VCVCV) and derme (CVCCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Visual trap between œdème and derme
A purely visual mix-up. œdème (\e.dɛm\) and derme (\dɛʁm\) 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 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 81527, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
œdème is recorded at frequency rank #34,835, classified as anoun, pronounced \e.dɛm\. derme is at rank #46,692, tagged as anoun, pronounced \dɛʁm\.
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 81527, this pair ranks #18,571 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of œdème vs derme
Shared letters: dem. Private to "œdème": èœ. Private to "derme": r.
"œdème" · 5 letters · shape VCVCV · "derme" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- derme ← dderme · demre · derem · dermme · derrme · dreme · edrme
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "œdème" and "derme" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary French text, does "œdème" or "derme" show up more?
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 "œdème" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "derme" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #18,571 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "œdème" and "derme" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "dèche vs derme". 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 #18,571 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.