Which to use
“lance” and “linge” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #1,441
- “lance” frequency rank
- #6,842
- “linge” frequency rank
- 8283
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | lance | linge |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Arme à long bois, terminée par un fer pointu et qui, au Moyen Âge, était fort grosse vers la poignée. | Tissu de fil ou de coton servant à l’usage du corps ou à des emplois domestiques. |
Where the eye mixes lance and linge
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses lance with linge
A purely visual mix-up. lance (\lɑ̃s\) and linge (\lɛ̃ʒ\) 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 8283, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
lance is recorded at frequency rank #1,441, classified as anoun, pronounced \lɑ̃s\. linge is at rank #6,842, tagged as anoun, pronounced \lɛ̃ʒ\.
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 8283, this pair ranks #420,550 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of lance vs linge
Shared letters: eln. Private to "lance": ac. Private to "linge": gi.
"lance" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "linge" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "lance" for "linge" ever safe?
Which is more common, "lance" or "linge"?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "lance" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "linge" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #420,550 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "lance" and "linge" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "linge vs longo". 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 #420,550 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.