Which to use
“épée” and “été” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #4,724
- “épée” frequency rank
- #65
- “été” frequency rank
- 4789
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | épée | été |
|---|---|---|
| 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. | La plus chaude des quatre saisons de l’année. Dans l’hémisphère nord, l’été astronomique s’étend du 7 mai au 7 août, le solstice d’été représentant le milieu de l’été. L’été météorologique, qui comprend les mois les plus chauds de l’année, comprend les mois de juin, juillet et août. L’été calendaire français, enfin, s’étend du 21 juin (solstice d’été) au 22 septembre (équinoxe d’automne). Dans l’hémisphère sud, ce découpage correspond à la saison d’hiver. |
Where the eye mixes épée and été
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: épée vs été
A purely visual mix-up. épée (\e.pe\) and été (\e.te\) 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 4789, 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\. été is at rank #65, tagged as anoun, pronounced \e.te\.
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 4789, this pair ranks #430,690 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of épée vs été
Shared letters: é. Private to "épée": ep. Private to "été": t.
"épée" · 4 letters · shape VCVV · "été" · 3 letters · shape VCV
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "épée" and "été" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary French text, does "épée" or "été" show up more?
What to do next
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 "été" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #430,690 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "épée" and "été" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "épée vs épier". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #430,690 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.