dévoluvsdevonWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: dévolu is a adjective, devon is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“dévolu” is an adjective and “devon” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#22,249
“dévolu” frequency rank
#24,540
“devon” frequency rank
46789
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature dévolu devon
Definition Transféré d’une personne à une autre, qui est échu à quelqu’un. Poisson artificiel servant d’appât.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set dévolu and devon apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
dévolu
5 ch
devon

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: dévolu is \de.vɔ.ly\ while devon is \də.vɔ̃\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 46789, 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\. devon is at rank #24,540, tagged as anoun, pronounced \də.vɔ̃\.

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 46789, this pair ranks #192,069 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of dévolu vs devon

Shared letters: dov. Private to "dévolu": lué. Private to "devon": en.

"dévolu" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV  ·  "devon" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • devonddevon · deovn · devno · devonn · devvon · dveon · edvon

Frequency comparison

dévolu#22,249
devon#24,540

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "dévolu" and "devon" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "dévolu" is an adjective and "devon" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "dévolu" or "devon"?
"dévolu" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #22,249 in our French list, against #24,540 for "devon". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering dévolu vs devon

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “dévolu”; for a noun, it's “devon”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “dévolu” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list