éclipsesvsellipseWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#36,668
“éclipses” frequency rank
#29,757
“ellipse” frequency rank
66425
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature éclipses ellipse
Definition Pluriel de éclipse. Suppression d’un élément de phrase sans changement de signification.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set éclipses and ellipse apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

8 ch
éclipses
7 ch
ellipse

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. éclipses (\e.klips\) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 66425, 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\. 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 66425, this pair ranks #67,891 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of éclipses vs ellipse

Shared letters: eilps. Private to "éclipses": . Private to "ellipse": -.

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

Known mistypes of this pair

  • ellipseelilpse · elipse · ellipes · ellippse · ellipsse · ellispe · ellpise · lelipse

Frequency comparison

éclipses#36,668
ellipse#29,757

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "éclipses" and "ellipse" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\e.klips\ versus \e.lips\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "éclipses" or "ellipse"?
"ellipse" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #29,757 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 ellipse

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