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 eye mixes éclipses and écluses
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. éclipses runs 8 letters (VCCVCCVC) against écluses's 7 (VCCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses éclipses with écluses
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
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "éclipses" and "écluses" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary French text, does "éclipses" or "écluses" show up more?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "éclipses" and "écluses" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "éclipses" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "écluses" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #64,873 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "éclipses" and "écluses" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "éclipses vs ellipses". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #64,873 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.