Which to use
“device” and “devise” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #43,381
- “device” frequency rank
- #7,050
- “devise” frequency rank
- 50431
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | device | devise |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Dispositif, appareil. | Figure accompagnée d’une phrase exprimant d’une manière allégorique et brève quelque pensée, quelque sentiment. |
Where the eye mixes device and devise
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between device and devise
A purely visual mix-up. device (\dɪˈvaɪs\) and devise (\də.viz\) 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 s in “devise”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 50431, 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\. devise is at rank #7,050, tagged as anoun, pronounced \də.viz\.
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 50431, this pair ranks #162,696 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of device vs devise
Shared letters: deiv. Private to "device": c. Private to "devise": s.
"device" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV · "devise" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "device" for "devise" ever safe?
Frequency check: "device" vs "devise" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "device" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "devise" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #162,696 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "device" and "devise" 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 #162,696 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.