Which to use
“désigna” and “dessina” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #49,051
- “désigna” frequency rank
- #49,595
- “dessina” frequency rank
- 98646
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | désigna | dessina |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Troisième personne du singulier du passé simple de désigner. | Troisième personne du singulier du passé simple de dessiner. |
Where the eye mixes désigna and dessina
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. désigna (CVCVCCV) and dessina (CVCCVCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Look-alike desk: désigna vs dessina
A purely visual mix-up. désigna (\de.zi.ɲa\) and dessina (\de.si.na\) 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 98646, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
désigna is recorded at frequency rank #49,051, classified as averb, pronounced \de.zi.ɲa\. dessina is at rank #49,595, tagged as averb, pronounced \de.si.na\.
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 98646, this pair ranks #86 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of désigna vs dessina
Shared letters: adins. Private to "désigna": gé. Private to "dessina": e.
"désigna" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCV · "dessina" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- dessina ← ddessina · desina · desisna · dessian · dessinna · dessnia · dsesina · edssina
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "désigna" and "dessina" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary French text, does "désigna" or "dessina" show up more?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "désigna" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "dessina" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #86 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "désigna" and "dessina" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "dessina vs dessinez". 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 #86 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.