Which to use
“labos” and “laïcs” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #26,778
- “labos” frequency rank
- #19,054
- “laïcs” frequency rank
- 45832
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | labos | laïcs |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de labo. | Pluriel de laïc. |
Where the eye mixes labos and laïcs
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between labos and laïcs
A purely visual mix-up. labos (\la.bo\) and laïcs (\la.ik\) 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 45832, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
labos is recorded at frequency rank #26,778, classified as anoun, pronounced \la.bo\. laïcs is at rank #19,054, tagged as anoun, pronounced \la.ik\.
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 45832, this pair ranks #199,683 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of labos vs laïcs
Shared letters: als. Private to "labos": bo. Private to "laïcs": cï.
"labos" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "laïcs" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- labos ← albos · labbos · laboss · labso · laobs · lbaos · llabos
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "labos" for "laïcs" ever safe?
Frequency check: "labos" vs "laïcs" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "labos" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "laïcs" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #199,683 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "labos" and "laïcs" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "labos vs lobo". 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 #199,683 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.