Which to use
“eclipse” and “ellipse” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #28,149
- “eclipse” frequency rank
- #29,757
- “ellipse” frequency rank
- 57906
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | eclipse | ellipse |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Éclipse. | Suppression d’un élément de phrase sans changement de signification. |
Where the eye mixes eclipse and ellipse
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: eclipse vs ellipse
A purely visual mix-up. eclipse (\ɛˈklɪps\) and ellipse (\e.lips\) 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 a single letter - c in “eclipse” becomes l in “ellipse”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 57906, 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\. ellipse is at rank #29,757, tagged as anoun, pronounced \e.lips\.
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 57906, this pair ranks #112,223 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of eclipse vs ellipse
Shared letters: eilps. Private to "eclipse": c. Private to "ellipse": -.
"eclipse" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCCV · "ellipse" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "eclipse" and "ellipse" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "eclipse" or "ellipse"?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "eclipse" and "ellipse" 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 "ellipse" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #112,223 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "eclipse" and "ellipse" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ellipse 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 #112,223 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.