dévolu vs dévolue, What's the Difference?

Which to use

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

#22,249
“dévolu” frequency rank: #38,775
“dévolue” frequency rank: 61024
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	dévolu	dévolue
Definition	Transféré d’une personne à une autre, qui est échu à quelqu’un.	Féminin singulier de dévolu.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set dévolu and dévolue apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch

dévolu

7 ch

dévolue

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

This is the hard kind. dévolu and dévolue are pronounced identically (\de.vɔ.ly\) and both work as anadjective. Neither the ear nor the grammar will rescue you; only the meaning does, so the glosses below are the whole decision. They differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “dévolu” sits inside “dévolue”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 61024, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

dévolu is recorded at frequency rank #22,249, classified as anadj, pronounced \de.vɔ.ly\. dévolue is at rank #38,775, tagged as anadj, pronounced \de.vɔ.ly\.

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 61024, this pair ranks #94,480 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of dévolu vs dévolue

Shared letters: dlouvé. Private to "dévolu": -. Private to "dévolue": e.

"dévolu" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV · "dévolue" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVV

Frequency comparison

dévolu#22,249

dévolue#38,775

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "dévolu" and "dévolue" be used interchangeably?

No. They are pronounced the same (\de.vɔ.ly\), which is exactly why they get swapped in writing, but the dictionary meanings above are different, and pronunciation is no guide here.

Which is more common, "dévolu" or "dévolue"?

"dévolu" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #22,249 in our French list, against #38,775 for "dévolue". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering dévolu vs dévolue

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “dévolu” entry
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