filiationvsfixationTell them apart

Which to use

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

#13,598
“filiation” frequency rank
#8,711
“fixation” frequency rank
22309
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature filiation fixation
Definition Suite continue de générations, dans une même famille ; ligne directe qui descend des aïeux aux enfants, ou qui remonte des enfants aux aïeux. Action de fixer.

Where the eye mixes filiation and fixation

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence.

9 ch
filiation
8 ch
fixation

Visual trap between filiation and fixation

A purely visual mix-up. filiation (\fi.lja.sjɔ̃\) and fixation (\fik.sa.sjɔ̃\) 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 22309, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

filiation is recorded at frequency rank #13,598, classified as anoun, pronounced \fi.lja.sjɔ̃\. fixation is at rank #8,711, tagged as anoun, pronounced \fik.sa.sjɔ̃\.

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 22309, this pair ranks #358,694 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of filiation vs fixation

Shared letters: afinot. Private to "filiation": l. Private to "fixation": x.

"filiation" · 9 letters · shape CVCVVCVVC  ·  "fixation" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • filiationffiliation · fiilation · filaition · filiaiton · filiatino · filiationn · filiatoin · filiattion
  • fixationffixation · fiaxtion · fixaiton · fixatino · fixationn · fixatoin · fixattion · fixtaion

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "filiation" and "fixation" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (\fi.lja.sjɔ̃\ versus \fik.sa.sjɔ̃\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "filiation" vs "fixation" - which ranks higher?
"fixation" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,711 in our French list, against #13,598 for "filiation". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "filiation" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "fixation" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #358,694 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "filiation" and "fixation" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "filiation vs filtration". Nearby pair
  • Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes

Confusion rank #358,694 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list