Which to use
“entame” is a noun and “entamée” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #9,479
- “entame” frequency rank
- #23,538
- “entamée” frequency rank
- 33017
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | entame | entamée |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Première tranche d’un aliment qu’on a découpé. | Participe passé féminin singulier de entamer. |
Where the eye mixes entame and entamée
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. entame runs 6 letters (VCCVCV) against entamée's 7 (VCCVCVV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses entame with entamée
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: entame is \ɑ̃.tam\ while entamée is \ɑ̃.ta.me\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 33017, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
entame is recorded at frequency rank #9,479, classified as anoun, pronounced \ɑ̃.tam\. entamée is at rank #23,538, tagged as averb, pronounced \ɑ̃.ta.me\.
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 33017, this pair ranks #293,421 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of entame vs entamée
Shared letters: aemnt. Private to "entame": -. Private to "entamée": é.
"entame" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCV · "entamée" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVV
Known mistypes of this pair
- entame ← enatme · enntame · entaem · entamme · entmae · enttame · etname · netame
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "entame" for "entamée" ever safe?
Which is more common, "entame" or "entamée"?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "entame" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "entamée" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #293,421 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "entame" and "entamée" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "entamée vs entravée". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #293,421 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.