Which to use
“éteinte” and “éternité” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #14,395
- “éteinte” frequency rank
- #7,776
- “éternité” frequency rank
- 22171
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | éteinte | éternité |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Moment où une bougie arrête de se consumer. | Durée qui n’a ni commencement ni fin. |
Where the eye mixes éteinte and éternité
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. éteinte runs 7 letters (VCVVCCV) against éternité's 8 (VCVCCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses éteinte with éternité
A purely visual mix-up. éteinte (\e.tɛ̃t\) and éternité (\e.tɛʁ.ni.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 22171, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
éteinte is recorded at frequency rank #14,395, classified as anoun, pronounced \e.tɛ̃t\. éternité is at rank #7,776, tagged as anoun, pronounced \e.tɛʁ.ni.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 22171, this pair ranks #359,481 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of éteinte vs éternité
Shared letters: einté. Private to "éteinte": -. Private to "éternité": r.
"éteinte" · 7 letters · shape VCVVCCV · "éternité" · 8 letters · shape VCVCCVCV
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "éteinte" for "éternité" ever safe?
In ordinary French text, does "éteinte" or "éternité" show up more?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "éteinte" and "éternité" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "éteinte" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "éternité" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #359,481 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "éteinte" and "éternité" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "éterniser vs éternité". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #359,481 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.