enterprisevsentrepriseConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#20,134
“enterprise” frequency rank
#452
“entreprise” frequency rank
20586
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature enterprise entreprise
Definition Entreprise. Ce que l’on entreprend, ce que l’on a entrepris, un projet, un dessein.

Where the eye mixes enterprise and entreprise

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. enterprise (VCCVCCCVCV) and entreprise (VCCCVCCVCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

10 ch
enterprise
10 ch
entreprise

Why the eye confuses enterprise with entreprise

A purely visual mix-up. enterprise (\ˈɛn.təˌpɹaɪz\) and entreprise (\ɑ̃.tʁə.pʁiz\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ only by swapping two adjacent letters (er ↔ re) - a transposition the eye reads straight past. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 20586, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

enterprise is recorded at frequency rank #20,134, classified as anoun, pronounced \ˈɛn.təˌpɹaɪz\. entreprise is at rank #452, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ɑ̃.tʁə.pʁiz\.

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 20586, this pair ranks #367,512 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of enterprise vs entreprise

Shared letters: einprst. Private to "enterprise": -. Private to "entreprise": -.

"enterprise" · 10 letters · shape VCCVCCCVCV  ·  "entreprise" · 10 letters · shape VCCCVCCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • enterprise ← enetrprise · ennterprise · enteprrise · enterpirse · enterpprise · enterpries · enterprisse · enterprrise
  • entreprise ← enntreprise · enrteprise · entrepirse · entrepprise · entrepries · entreprisse · entreprrise · entreprsie

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "enterprise" and "entreprise" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\ˈɛn.təˌpɹaɪz\ versus \ɑ̃.tʁə.pʁiz\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "enterprise" or "entreprise"?
"entreprise" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #452 in our French list, against #20,134 for "enterprise". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "enterprise" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "entreprise" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #367,512 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "enterprise" and "entreprise" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "entreprise vs entreprit". 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 #367,512 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