diffusionvsdiffusionsWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#2,570
“diffusion” frequency rank
#37,272
“diffusions” frequency rank
39842
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature diffusion diffusions
Definition Action de répandre dans tous les sens. Pluriel de diffusion.

Same sound, different letters: diffusion vs diffusions

Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 9 letters.

9 ch
diffusion
10 ch
diffusions

Homophone desk: diffusion vs diffusions

This is the hard kind. diffusion and diffusions are pronounced identically (\di.fy.zjɔ̃\) and both work as anoun. 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) - “diffusion” sits inside “diffusions”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 39842, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

diffusion is recorded at frequency rank #2,570, classified as anoun, pronounced \di.fy.zjɔ̃\. diffusions is at rank #37,272, tagged as anoun, pronounced \di.fy.zjɔ̃\.

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 39842, this pair ranks #244,953 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of diffusion vs diffusions

Shared letters: dfinosu. Private to "diffusion": -. Private to "diffusions": -.

"diffusion" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCVVC  ·  "diffusions" · 10 letters · shape CVCCVCVVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • diffusionddiffusion · dfifusion · diffsuion · diffuison · diffusino · diffusionn · diffusoin · diffussion
  • diffusionsddiffusions · dfifusions · diffsuions · diffuisons · diffusinos · diffusionns · diffusionss · diffusiosn

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "diffusion" and "diffusions" be used interchangeably?
No. They are pronounced the same (\di.fy.zjɔ̃\), 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, "diffusion" or "diffusions"?
"diffusion" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,570 in our French list, against #37,272 for "diffusions". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

"diffusion" and "diffusions" share a sound, keep the gloss open, then jump to the headword or a nearby trap.

  • Full dictionary entry for "diffusion" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "diffusions" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #244,953 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • 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 #244,953 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