Which to use
“épée” and “epic” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #4,724
- “épée” frequency rank
- #19,010
- “epic” frequency rank
- 23734
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | épée | epic |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Arme offensive et défensive composée d’une longue lame affilée de section triangulaire avec une poignée et que les guerriers portaient au côté dans un fourreau. | Dans les méthodes agiles, fonctionnalité en attente de décomposition en stories plus petites. |
Where the eye mixes épée and epic
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.
Why the eye confuses épée with epic
A purely visual mix-up. épée (\e.pe\) and epic (\e.pik\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 23734, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
épée is recorded at frequency rank #4,724, classified as anoun, pronounced \e.pe\. epic is at rank #19,010, tagged as anoun, pronounced \e.pik\.
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 23734, this pair ranks #350,770 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of épée vs epic
Shared letters: ep. Private to "épée": é. Private to "epic": ci.
"épée" · 4 letters · shape VCVV · "epic" · 4 letters · shape VCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- epic ← eipc · epicc · eppic · peic
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "épée" for "epic" ever safe?
In ordinary French text, does "épée" or "epic" show up more?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "épée" and "epic" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "épée" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "epic" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #350,770 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "épée" and "epic" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "epic 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 #350,770 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.