doublevsdoublonWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#844
“double” frequency rank
#46,116
“doublon” frequency rank
46960
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature double doublon
Definition Qui vaut, qui pèse ou qui contient deux fois autant. Élément redondant dans un ensemble.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set double and doublon apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
double
7 ch
doublon

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: double is \dubl\ while doublon is \du.blɔ̃\. 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 46960, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

double is recorded at frequency rank #844, classified as anadj, pronounced \dubl\. doublon is at rank #46,116, tagged as anoun, pronounced \du.blɔ̃\.

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 46960, this pair ranks #190,692 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of double vs doublon

Shared letters: bdlou. Private to "double": e. Private to "doublon": n.

"double" · 6 letters · shape CVVCCV  ·  "doublon" · 7 letters · shape CVVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • doubleddouble · dobule · doubble · doubel · doublle · doulbe · duoble · oduble
  • doublonddoublon · dobulon · doubblon · doubllon · doublno · doublonn · douboln · doulbon

Frequency comparison

double#844
doublon#46,116

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "double" and "doublon" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "double" is an adjective and "doublon" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "double" or "doublon"?
"double" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #844 in our French list, against #46,116 for "doublon". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering double vs doublon

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “double”; for a noun, it's “doublon”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “double” 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