épis vs étuis, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“épis” and “étuis” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#26,234
“épis” frequency rank: #47,703
“étuis” frequency rank: 73937
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	épis	étuis
Definition	Pluriel de épi.	Pluriel de étui.

Where the eye mixes épis and étuis

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. épis runs 4 letters (VCVC) against étuis's 5 (VCVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

4 ch

épis

5 ch

étuis

Why the eye confuses épis with étuis

A purely visual mix-up. épis (\e.pi\) and étuis (\e.tɥi\) 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 73937, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

épis is recorded at frequency rank #26,234, classified as anoun, pronounced \e.pi\. étuis is at rank #47,703, tagged as anoun, pronounced \e.tɥi\.

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 73937, this pair ranks #38,823 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of épis vs étuis

Shared letters: isé. Private to "épis": p. Private to "étuis": tu.

"épis" · 4 letters · shape VCVC · "étuis" · 5 letters · shape VCVVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "épis" for "étuis" ever safe?

No. They are said differently (\e.pi\ versus \e.tɥi\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.

Which is more common, "épis" or "étuis"?

"épis" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #26,234 in our French list, against #47,703 for "étuis". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "épis" and "étuis" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

Full dictionary entry for "épis" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
Full dictionary entry for "étuis" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
This pair ranks #38,823 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
"épis" and "étuis" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "étai vs étuis". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #38,823 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.