égoutvsémeutWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#18,915
“égout” frequency rank
#26,230
“émeut” frequency rank
45145
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature égout émeut
Definition Chute et écoulement des eaux qui viennent de quelque endroit. Fiente de faucon.

Where the eye mixes égout and émeut

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. égout and émeut follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCVVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

5 ch
égout
5 ch
émeut

Why the eye confuses égout with émeut

A purely visual mix-up. égout (\e.ɡu\) and émeut (\e.mø\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 45145, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

égout is recorded at frequency rank #18,915, classified as anoun, pronounced \e.ɡu\. émeut is at rank #26,230, tagged as anoun, pronounced \e.mø\.

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 45145, this pair ranks #205,047 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of égout vs émeut

Shared letters: tué. Private to "égout": go. Private to "émeut": em.

"égout" · 5 letters · shape VCVVC  ·  "émeut" · 5 letters · shape VCVVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "égout" and "émeut" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (\e.ɡu\ versus \e.mø\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "égout" vs "émeut" - which ranks higher?
"égout" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #18,915 in our French list, against #26,230 for "émeut". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "égout" and "émeut" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "égout" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "émeut" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #205,047 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "égout" and "émeut" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "émeut vs émit". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #205,047 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list