écartvsescortWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#3,232
“écart” frequency rank
#23,539
“escort” frequency rank
26771
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature écart escort
Definition Action par laquelle deux parties d’une chose s’écartent plus ou moins l’une de l’autre. Personne qui vend son temps, ainsi que des prestations sexuelles, à des clients.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set écart and escort apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
écart
6 ch
escort

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. écart (\e.kaʁ\) and escort (\ɛs.kɔʁt\) 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 26771, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

écart is recorded at frequency rank #3,232, classified as anoun, pronounced \e.kaʁ\. escort is at rank #23,539, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ɛs.kɔʁt\.

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 26771, this pair ranks #332,953 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of écart vs escort

Shared letters: crt. Private to "écart": . Private to "escort": eos.

"écart" · 5 letters · shape VCVCC  ·  "escort" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • escortecsort · esccort · escorrt · escortt · escotr · escrot · esocrt · esscort

Frequency comparison

écart#3,232
escort#23,539

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "écart" and "escort" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\e.kaʁ\ versus \ɛs.kɔʁt\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "écart" or "escort"?
"écart" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,232 in our French list, against #23,539 for "escort". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering écart vs escort

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 “écart” 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