Which to use
“douane” and “douche” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #11,566
- “douane” frequency rank
- #2,920
- “douche” frequency rank
- 14486
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | douane | douche |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Administration chargée de percevoir à la frontière les droits imposés sur l’entrée et la sortie des marchandises et de veiller à ce que les importations ou les exportations prohibées n’aient pas lieu. | Eau naturelle ou minérale qu’on projette sur tout le corps ou sur une partie du corps pour produire une action hygiénique ou thérapeutique. |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set douane and douche apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
douane and douche form a confusable pair in the French index, two distinct headwords that are easily confused because they look alike, sound alike, or both. They share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 14486, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
douane is recorded at frequency rank #11,566, classified as anoun, pronounced \dwan\. douche is at rank #2,920, tagged as anoun, pronounced \duʃ\.
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 14486, this pair ranks #396,428 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "douane" and "douche" be used interchangeably?
Remembering douane vs douche
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 “douane” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable