Which to use
“dérive” and “device” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #7,052
- “dérive” frequency rank
- #43,381
- “device” frequency rank
- 50433
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | dérive | device |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Écart, déviation entre le cap effectivement suivi par un navire ou un aéroplane et le cap initialement fixé. | Dispositif, appareil. |
Where the eye mixes dérive and device
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses dérive with device
A purely visual mix-up. dérive (\de.ʁiv\) and device (\dɪˈvaɪs\) 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 50433, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
dérive is recorded at frequency rank #7,052, classified as anoun, pronounced \de.ʁiv\. device is at rank #43,381, tagged as anoun, pronounced \dɪˈvaɪs\.
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 50433, this pair ranks #162,679 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of dérive vs device
Shared letters: deiv. Private to "dérive": ré. Private to "device": c.
"dérive" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV · "device" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- device ← ddevice · deivce · devcie · devicce · deviec · devvice · dveice · edvice
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "dérive" and "device" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "dérive" or "device"?
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 "dérive" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "device" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #162,679 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "dérive" and "device" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "device vs devins". 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 #162,679 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.