Which to use
“épicée” is an adjective and “épître” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #40,088
- “épicée” frequency rank
- #31,794
- “épître” frequency rank
- 71882
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | épicée | épître |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Féminin singulier de épicé. | Lettre missive, chez les anciens. |
Where the eye mixes épicée and épître
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. épicée (VCVCVV) and épître (VCVCCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Why the eye confuses épicée with épître
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: épicée is \e.pi.se\ while épître is \e.pitʁ\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 71882, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
épicée is recorded at frequency rank #40,088, classified as anadj, pronounced \e.pi.se\. épître is at rank #31,794, tagged as anoun, pronounced \e.pitʁ\.
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 71882, this pair ranks #45,940 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of épicée vs épître
Shared letters: epé. Private to "épicée": ci. Private to "épître": rtî.
"épicée" · 6 letters · shape VCVCVV · "épître" · 6 letters · shape VCVCCV
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "épicée" for "épître" ever safe?
Which is more common, "épicée" or "épître"?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "épicée" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "épître" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #45,940 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "épicée" and "épître" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "épicée vs épier". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #45,940 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.