demeurevsdemeuréeWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: demeure is a noun, demeurée is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“demeure” is a noun and “demeurée” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#1,991
“demeure” frequency rank
#31,439
“demeurée” frequency rank
33430
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature demeure demeurée
Definition Habitation, domicile. Féminin singulier de demeuré.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set demeure and demeurée apart are highlighted. They share 7 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
demeure
8 ch
demeurée

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: demeure is \də.mœʁ\ while demeurée is \də.mœ.ʁe\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 33430, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

demeure is recorded at frequency rank #1,991, classified as anoun, pronounced \də.mœʁ\. demeurée is at rank #31,439, tagged as anadj, pronounced \də.mœ.ʁe\.

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 33430, this pair ranks #290,699 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of demeure vs demeurée

Shared letters: demru. Private to "demeure": -. Private to "demeurée": é.

"demeure" · 7 letters · shape CVCVVCV  ·  "demeurée" · 8 letters · shape CVCVVCVV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • demeureddemeure · deemure · demerue · demeuer · demeurre · demmeure · demuere · dmeeure

Frequency comparison

demeure#1,991
demeurée#31,439

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "demeure" and "demeurée" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "demeure" is a noun and "demeurée" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "demeure" or "demeurée"?
"demeure" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,991 in our French list, against #31,439 for "demeurée". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering demeure vs demeurée

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “demeure”; for an adjective, it's “demeurée”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “demeure” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list