Which to use
“laines” and “laves” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #41,376
- “laines” frequency rank
- #26,781
- “laves” frequency rank
- 68157
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | laines | laves |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de laine. | Pluriel de lave. |
Where the eye mixes laines and laves
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: laines vs laves
A purely visual mix-up. laines (\lɛn\) and laves (\lav\) 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 68157, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
laines is recorded at frequency rank #41,376, classified as anoun, pronounced \lɛn\. laves is at rank #26,781, tagged as anoun, pronounced \lav\.
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 68157, this pair ranks #60,315 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of laines vs laves
Shared letters: aels. Private to "laines": in. Private to "laves": v.
"laines" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC · "laves" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "laines" for "laves" ever safe?
Frequency check: "laines" vs "laves" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "laines" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "laves" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #60,315 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "laines" and "laves" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "laines vs linges". 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 #60,315 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.