empiriquevsempiriquesWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#22,553
“empirique” frequency rank
#31,948
“empiriques” frequency rank
54501
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature empirique empiriques
Definition Fondé essentiellement sur l’expérience et l’observation, plutôt que sur l'usage de la raison abstraite (le rationalisme). Pluriel de empirique.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set empirique and empiriques apart are highlighted. They share 9 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

9 ch
empirique
10 ch
empiriques

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

This is the hard kind. empirique and empiriques are pronounced identically (\ɑ̃.pi.ʁik\) and both work as anadjective. Neither the ear nor the grammar will rescue you; only the meaning does, so the glosses below are the whole decision. They differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “empirique” sits inside “empiriques”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 54501, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

empirique is recorded at frequency rank #22,553, classified as anadj, pronounced \ɑ̃.pi.ʁik\. empiriques is at rank #31,948, tagged as anadj, pronounced \ɑ̃.pi.ʁik\.

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 54501, this pair ranks #133,584 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of empirique vs empiriques

Shared letters: eimpqru. Private to "empirique": -. Private to "empiriques": s.

"empirique" · 9 letters · shape VCCVCVCVV  ·  "empiriques" · 10 letters · shape VCCVCVCVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • empiriqueemiprique · emmpirique · empiirque · empiriqeu · empiriqque · empiriuqe · empirqiue · empirrique
  • empiriquesemipriques · emmpiriques · empiirques · empiriqeus · empiriqques · empiriquess · empiriquse · empiriuqes

Frequency comparison

empirique#22,553
empiriques#31,948

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "empirique" and "empiriques" be used interchangeably?
No. They are pronounced the same (\ɑ̃.pi.ʁik\), which is exactly why they get swapped in writing, but the dictionary meanings above are different, and pronunciation is no guide here.
Which is more common, "empirique" or "empiriques"?
"empirique" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #22,553 in our French list, against #31,948 for "empiriques". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering empirique vs empiriques

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 “empirique” 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