Which to use
“épée” and “épine” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #4,724
- “épée” frequency rank
- #20,328
- “épine” frequency rank
- 25052
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | épée | épine |
|---|---|---|
| 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. | Branche, feuille, stipule ou partie de feuille transformée en un organe allongé et piquant ; par opposition à l’aiguillon. |
Where the eye mixes épée and épine
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses épée with épine
A purely visual mix-up. épée (\e.pe\) and épine (\e.pin\) 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 25052, 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\. épine is at rank #20,328, tagged as anoun, pronounced \e.pin\.
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 25052, this pair ranks #343,068 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of épée vs épine
Shared letters: epé. Private to "épée": -. Private to "épine": in.
"épée" · 4 letters · shape VCVV · "épine" · 5 letters · shape VCVCV
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "épée" for "épine" ever safe?
Frequency check: "épée" vs "épine" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "épée" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "épine" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #343,068 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "épée" and "épine" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "épier vs épine". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #343,068 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.