Which to use
“eaux” and “époux” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #1,863
- “eaux” frequency rank
- #4,819
- “époux” frequency rank
- 6682
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | eaux | époux |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de eau. | Mari, dans le mariage. |
Where the eye mixes eaux and époux
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. eaux runs 4 letters (VVVC) against époux's 5 (VCVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between eaux and époux
A purely visual mix-up. eaux (\o\) and époux (\e.pu\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 6682, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
eaux is recorded at frequency rank #1,863, classified as anoun, pronounced \o\. époux is at rank #4,819, tagged as anoun, pronounced \e.pu\.
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 6682, this pair ranks #425,546 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of eaux vs époux
Shared letters: ux. Private to "eaux": ae. Private to "époux": opé.
"eaux" · 4 letters · shape VVVC · "époux" · 5 letters · shape VCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- eaux ← aeux · eauxx · eaxu · euax
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "eaux" for "époux" ever safe?
In ordinary French text, does "eaux" or "époux" show up more?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "eaux" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "époux" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #425,546 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "eaux" and "époux" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "EPO vs époux". Nearby pair
- 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 #425,546 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.