Which to use
“émulation” and “émulsion” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #23,430
- “émulation” frequency rank
- #40,564
- “émulsion” frequency rank
- 63994
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | émulation | émulsion |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Sentiment de rivalité qui pousse à chercher à égaler quelqu'un ou à le surpasser. | Préparation liquide d’apparence laiteuse tenant en suspension une substance huileuse ou résineuse. |
Where the eye mixes émulation and émulsion
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses émulation with émulsion
A purely visual mix-up. émulation (\e.my.la.sjɔ̃\) and émulsion (\e.myl.sjɔ̃\) 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 63994, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
émulation is recorded at frequency rank #23,430, classified as anoun, pronounced \e.my.la.sjɔ̃\. émulsion is at rank #40,564, tagged as anoun, pronounced \e.myl.sjɔ̃\.
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 63994, this pair ranks #79,197 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of émulation vs émulsion
Shared letters: ilmnoué. Private to "émulation": at. Private to "émulsion": s.
"émulation" · 9 letters · shape VCVCVCVVC · "émulsion" · 8 letters · shape VCVCCVVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "émulation" for "émulsion" ever safe?
Which is more common, "émulation" or "émulsion"?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "émulation" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "émulsion" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #79,197 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "émulation" and "émulsion" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "émanation vs émulation". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #79,197 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.