éclipsesvséclusesWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#36,668
“éclipses” frequency rank
#30,438
“écluses” frequency rank
67106
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature éclipses écluses
Definition Pluriel de éclipse. Pluriel de écluse.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set éclipses and écluses apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

8 ch
éclipses
7 ch
écluses

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. éclipses (\e.klips\) and écluses (\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 67106, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

éclipses is recorded at frequency rank #36,668, classified as anoun, pronounced \e.klips\. écluses is at rank #30,438, 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 67106, this pair ranks #64,873 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of éclipses vs écluses

Shared letters: celsé. Private to "éclipses": ip. Private to "écluses": u.

"éclipses" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCCVC  ·  "écluses" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVC

Frequency comparison

éclipses#36,668
écluses#30,438

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "éclipses" and "écluses" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\e.klips\ versus \e.klyz\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "éclipses" or "écluses"?
"écluses" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #30,438 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.

Remembering éclipses vs écluses

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 “éclipses” 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