ibisvsibnWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#31,067
“ibis” frequency rank
#10,014
“ibn” frequency rank
41081
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ibis ibn
Definition Espèce d'oiseau échassier de la famille des threskiornithidés, au bec long, mince et recourbé. Mot Arabe signifiant fils.

Where the eye mixes ibis and ibn

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. ibis runs 4 letters (VCVC) against ibn's 3 (VCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

4 ch
ibis
3 ch
ibn

Look-alike desk: ibis vs ibn

A purely visual mix-up. ibis (\i.bis\) and ibn (\i.bøn\) 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 41081, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ibis is recorded at frequency rank #31,067, classified as anoun, pronounced \i.bis\. ibn is at rank #10,014, tagged as anoun, pronounced \i.bøn\.

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 41081, this pair ranks #235,663 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of ibis vs ibn

Shared letters: bi. Private to "ibis": s. Private to "ibn": n.

"ibis" · 4 letters · shape VCVC  ·  "ibn" · 3 letters · shape VCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • ibis ← biis · ibbis · ibiss · ibsi · iibs

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "ibis" and "ibn" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\i.bis\ versus \i.bøn\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "ibis" or "ibn"?
"ibn" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,014 in our French list, against #31,067 for "ibis". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "ibis" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "ibn" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #235,663 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "ibis" and "ibn" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ibis vs isi". 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 #235,663 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