envivsépiWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#19,828
“envi” frequency rank
#26,231
“épi” frequency rank
46059
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature envi épi
Definition Argent qu’on mise, pour surenchérir sur un adversaire lors d’un jeu. Partie du blé et de plusieurs autres plantes graminées, qui est placée au sommet de la tige, et formée par la réunion des graines.

Where the eye mixes envi and épi

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence. envi runs 4 letters (VCCV) against épi's 3 (VCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

4 ch
envi
3 ch
épi

Look-alike desk: envi vs épi

A purely visual mix-up. envi (\ɑ̃.vi\) and épi (\e.pi\) 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 46059, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

envi is recorded at frequency rank #19,828, classified as anoun, pronounced \ɑ̃.vi\. épi is at rank #26,231, tagged as anoun, pronounced \e.pi\.

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 46059, this pair ranks #197,936 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of envi vs épi

Shared letters: i. Private to "envi": env. Private to "épi": pé.

"envi" · 4 letters · shape VCCV  ·  "épi" · 3 letters · shape VCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • envi ← eniv · ennvi · envvi · evni · nevi

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "envi" and "épi" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (\ɑ̃.vi\ versus \e.pi\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "envi" or "épi"?
"envi" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #19,828 in our French list, against #26,231 for "épi". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "envi" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "épi" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #197,936 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "envi" and "épi" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "épi vs épier". 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 #197,936 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