Which to use
“eaux” and “étau” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #1,863
- “eaux” frequency rank
- #28,420
- “étau” frequency rank
- 30283
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | eaux | étau |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de eau. | Instrument dont se servent les ouvriers pour tenir fermes et serrés les objets qu’ils travaillent, et qui est formé de deux pièces métalliques, appelées mâchoires serrées par une vis horizontale. Suivant la destination, la coupe des mâchoires est différente et pour les menuisiers, il existe aussi des étaux en bois fixés contre un des pieds support de l'établi. Certains types (étaux de machine) sont conçus pour servir de porte-pièces dans des machines d'usinage. |
Where the eye mixes eaux and étau
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. eaux (VVVC) and étau (VCVV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Look-alike desk: eaux vs étau
A purely visual mix-up. eaux (\o\) and étau (\e.to\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 4 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 30283, 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\. étau is at rank #28,420, tagged as anoun, pronounced \e.to\.
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 30283, this pair ranks #311,376 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of eaux vs étau
Shared letters: au. Private to "eaux": ex. Private to "étau": té.
"eaux" · 4 letters · shape VVVC · "étau" · 4 letters · shape VCVV
Known mistypes of this pair
- eaux ← aeux · eauxx · eaxu · euax
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "eaux" for "étau" ever safe?
In ordinary French text, does "eaux" or "étau" 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 "étau" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #311,376 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "eaux" and "étau" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "étai vs étau". 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 #311,376 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.