Which to use
“labo” and “lavabo” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #12,609
- “labo” frequency rank
- #23,266
- “lavabo” frequency rank
- 35875
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | labo | lavabo |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Laboratoire. | Prière que le prêtre dit en lavant ses doigts durant la messe, avant la consécration. |
Where the eye mixes labo and lavabo
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. labo runs 4 letters (CVCV) against lavabo's 6 (CVCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: labo vs lavabo
A purely visual mix-up. labo (\la.bo\) and lavabo (\la.va.bo\) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 35875, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
labo is recorded at frequency rank #12,609, classified as anoun, pronounced \la.bo\. lavabo is at rank #23,266, tagged as anoun, pronounced \la.va.bo\.
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 35875, this pair ranks #273,612 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of labo vs lavabo
Shared letters: ablo. Private to "labo": -. Private to "lavabo": v.
"labo" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "lavabo" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "labo" for "lavabo" ever safe?
Frequency check: "labo" vs "lavabo" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "labo" and "lavabo" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "labo" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "lavabo" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #273,612 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "labo" and "lavabo" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lavabo vs lavait". 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 #273,612 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.