iosvsixeTell them apart

Which to use

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

#8,870
“ios” frequency rank
#26,069
“ixe” frequency rank
34939
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ios ixe
Definition Pluriel de io. Lettre latine X, x.

Where the eye mixes ios and ixe

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.

3 ch
ios
3 ch
ixe

Visual trap between ios and ixe

A purely visual mix-up. ios (\jo\) and ixe (\iks\) 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 34939, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ios is recorded at frequency rank #8,870, classified as anoun, pronounced \jo\. ixe is at rank #26,069, tagged as anoun, pronounced \iks\.

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 34939, this pair ranks #280,308 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of ios vs ixe

Shared letters: i. Private to "ios": os. Private to "ixe": ex.

"ios" · 3 letters · shape VVC  ·  "ixe" · 3 letters · shape VCV

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "ios" for "ixe" ever safe?
No. They are said differently (\jo\ versus \iks\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "ios" or "ixe"?
"ios" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,870 in our French list, against #26,069 for "ixe". 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 "ios" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "ixe" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #280,308 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "ios" and "ixe" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "isi vs ixe". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #280,308 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