eclipsevséclipsesWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#28,149
“eclipse” frequency rank
#36,668
“éclipses” frequency rank
64817
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature eclipse éclipses
Definition Éclipse. Pluriel de éclipse.

Where the eye mixes eclipse and éclipses

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.

7 ch
eclipse
8 ch
éclipses

Why the eye confuses eclipse with éclipses

A purely visual mix-up. eclipse (\ɛˈklɪps\) and éclipses (\e.klips\) 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 64817, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

eclipse is recorded at frequency rank #28,149, classified as anoun, pronounced \ɛˈklɪps\. éclipses is at rank #36,668, tagged as anoun, pronounced \e.klips\.

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 64817, this pair ranks #75,186 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of eclipse vs éclipses

Shared letters: ceilps. Private to "eclipse": -. Private to "éclipses": é.

"eclipse" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCCV  ·  "éclipses" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • eclipsecelipse · ecclipse · ecilpse · eclipes · eclippse · eclipsse · eclispe · ecllipse

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "eclipse" and "éclipses" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (\ɛˈklɪps\ versus \e.klips\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "eclipse" or "éclipses"?
"eclipse" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #28,149 in our French list, against #36,668 for "éclipses". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "eclipse" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "éclipses" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #75,186 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "eclipse" and "éclipses" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "éclipses vs ellipses". 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 #75,186 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list