hicvshpConfusable pair

Quick tell: hic is a noun, hp is a symbol, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“hic” is a noun and “hp” is a symbol - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#16,382
“hic” frequency rank
#9,671
“hp” frequency rank
26053
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature hic hp
Definition Nœud ou principale difficulté d’une affaire, problème. Symbole du horsepower, le cheval-vapeur anglo-saxon, dont les diverses définitions vont de 75 m kgf/s à 746 W.

Letter map: hic vs hp

Shared letters muted; letters that set hic and hp apart highlighted. Shared run: 1.

3 ch
hic
2 ch
hp

Grammar separator: hic vs hp

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: hic is anoun and hpasymbol. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 26053, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

hic is recorded at frequency rank #16,382, classified as anoun, pronounced ^((h aspiré))\ik\. hp is at rank #9,671, tagged as asymbol.

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 26053, this pair ranks #337,392 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of hic vs hp

Shared letters: h. Private to "hic": ci. Private to "hp": p.

"hic" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "hp" · 2 letters · shape CC

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "hic" for "hp" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "hic" is a noun and "hp" a symbol, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "hic" vs "hp" - which ranks higher?
"hp" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #9,671 in our French list, against #16,382 for "hic". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "hic" and "hp".

  • Full dictionary entry for "hic" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "hp" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #337,392 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "hic" and "hp" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "hae vs hic". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #337,392 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