ilanvsilesConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#39,343
“ilan” frequency rank
#14,699
“iles” frequency rank
54042
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ilan iles
Definition Serpent. Parties latérales et inférieures du bas-ventre.

Where the eye mixes ilan and iles

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

4 ch
ilan
4 ch
iles

Look-alike desk: ilan vs iles

A purely visual mix-up. ilan (\i.ˈlɑn\) and iles (\i.lɛs\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 54042, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ilan is recorded at frequency rank #39,343, classified as anoun, pronounced \i.ˈlɑn\. iles is at rank #14,699, tagged as anoun, pronounced \i.lɛs\.

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 54042, this pair ranks #136,702 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of ilan vs iles

Shared letters: il. Private to "ilan": an. Private to "iles": es.

"ilan" · 4 letters · shape VCVC  ·  "iles" · 4 letters · shape VCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • ilanialn · ilann · illan
  • ilesiels · iless · illes

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "ilan" and "iles" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (\i.ˈlɑn\ versus \i.lɛs\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "ilan" vs "iles" - which ranks higher?
"iles" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #14,699 in our French list, against #39,343 for "ilan". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "ilan" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "iles" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #136,702 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "ilan" and "iles" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ilan vs Ilona". 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 #136,702 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