Which to use
“lait” and “laiton” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #2,043
- “lait” frequency rank
- #25,712
- “laiton” frequency rank
- 27755
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | lait | laiton |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Liquide produit par les glandes mammaires des femelles de mammifères pendant la période de lactation qui suit la parturition, et destiné à nourrir les bébés lors de l’allaitement. | Alliage de cuivre et de zinc, parfois avec d’autre métaux comme le plomb, l’étain, le nickel, le chrome ou le magnésium. |
Where the eye mixes lait and laiton
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses lait with laiton
A purely visual mix-up. lait (\lɛ\) and laiton (\lɛ.tɔ̃\) 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 extra letter(s) - “lait” sits inside “laiton”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 27755, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
lait is recorded at frequency rank #2,043, classified as anoun, pronounced \lɛ\. laiton is at rank #25,712, tagged as anoun, pronounced \lɛ.tɔ̃\.
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 27755, this pair ranks #327,000 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of lait vs laiton
Shared letters: ailt. Private to "lait": -. Private to "laiton": no.
"lait" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "laiton" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "lait" and "laiton" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "lait" vs "laiton" - 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 "lait" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "laiton" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #327,000 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "lait" and "laiton" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "laiton vs larron". 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 #327,000 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.