Which to use
“épées” and “épices” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #18,628
- “épées” frequency rank
- #12,088
- “épices” frequency rank
- 30716
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | épées | épices |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de épée. | Émolument qui était dû aux juges pendant un procès. Forme elliptique de épices des juges. |
Where the eye mixes épées and épices
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses épées with épices
A purely visual mix-up. épées (\e.pe\) and épices (\e.pis\) 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 30716, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
épées is recorded at frequency rank #18,628, classified as anoun, pronounced \e.pe\. épices is at rank #12,088, tagged as anoun, pronounced \e.pis\.
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 30716, this pair ranks #308,417 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of épées vs épices
Shared letters: epsé. Private to "épées": -. Private to "épices": ci.
"épées" · 5 letters · shape VCVVC · "épices" · 6 letters · shape VCVCVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "épées" and "épices" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary French text, does "épées" or "épices" show up more?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "épées" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "épices" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #308,417 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "épées" and "épices" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "épées vs épier". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #308,417 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.