Which to use
“eclipse” and “écluse” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #28,149
- “eclipse” frequency rank
- #29,608
- “écluse” frequency rank
- 57757
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | eclipse | écluse |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Éclipse. | Clôture en forme de bassin, faite de terre, de pierre, de bois ou de toute autre matière dans un port, sur une rivière, sur un canal, etc., ayant une ou plusieurs portes qui se lèvent et se baissent ou qui s’ouvrent et se ferment, pour retenir et pour laisser passer l’eau. |
Where the eye mixes eclipse and écluse
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: eclipse vs écluse
A purely visual mix-up. eclipse (\ɛˈklɪps\) and écluse (\e.klyz\) 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 57757, 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\. écluse is at rank #29,608, tagged as anoun, pronounced \e.klyz\.
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 57757, this pair ranks #113,152 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of eclipse vs écluse
Shared letters: cels. Private to "eclipse": ip. Private to "écluse": ué.
"eclipse" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCCV · "écluse" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- eclipse ← celipse · ecclipse · ecilpse · eclipes · eclippse · eclipsse · eclispe · ecllipse
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "eclipse" and "écluse" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "eclipse" or "écluse"?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "eclipse" and "écluse" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "eclipse" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "écluse" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #113,152 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "eclipse" and "écluse" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "écœuré vs écluse". 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 #113,152 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.