devicevsdevineConfusable pair

Which to use

“device” and “devine” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#43,381
“device” frequency rank
#10,485
“devine” frequency rank
53866
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature device devine
Definition Dispositif, appareil. Variante de devineresse.

Where the eye mixes device and devine

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.

6 ch
device
6 ch
devine

Visual trap between device and devine

A purely visual mix-up. device (\dɪˈvaɪs\) and devine (\də.vin\) 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 a single letter - c in “device” becomes n in “devine”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 53866, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

device is recorded at frequency rank #43,381, classified as anoun, pronounced \dɪˈvaɪs\. devine is at rank #10,485, tagged as anoun, pronounced \də.vin\.

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 53866, this pair ranks #137,890 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of device vs devine

Shared letters: deiv. Private to "device": c. Private to "devine": n.

"device" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV  ·  "devine" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • deviceddevice · deivce · devcie · devicce · deviec · devvice · dveice · edvice
  • devineddevine · deivne · devien · devinne · devnie · devvine · dveine · edvine

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "device" for "devine" ever safe?
No. They are said differently (\dɪˈvaɪs\ versus \də.vin\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "device" vs "devine" - which ranks higher?
"devine" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,485 in our French list, against #43,381 for "device". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "device" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "devine" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #137,890 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "device" and "devine" 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 #137,890 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list