lapinvslinConfusable pair

Which to use

“lapin” and “lin” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#5,577
“lapin” frequency rank
#8,118
“lin” frequency rank
13695
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature lapin lin
Definition Petit mammifère lagomorphe caractérisé par de longues oreilles (Oryctolagus cuniculus). Plante herbacée de la famille des Linacées, à feuilles simples, à fleurs généralement bleues, cultivée dans les pays tempérés pour ses graines oléagineuses et pour la fibre textile que fournit sa tige.

Where the eye mixes lapin and lin

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

5 ch
lapin
3 ch
lin

Why the eye confuses lapin with lin

A purely visual mix-up. lapin (\la.pɛ̃\) and lin (\lɛ̃\) 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 13695, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

lapin is recorded at frequency rank #5,577, classified as anoun, pronounced \la.pɛ̃\. lin is at rank #8,118, tagged as anoun, pronounced \lɛ̃\.

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 13695, this pair ranks #399,927 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of lapin vs lin

Shared letters: iln. Private to "lapin": ap. Private to "lin": -.

"lapin" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "lin" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • lapinlaipn · lapinn · lapni · lappin · llapin · lpain

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "lapin" and "lin" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\la.pɛ̃\ versus \lɛ̃\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "lapin" vs "lin" - which ranks higher?
"lapin" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,577 in our French list, against #8,118 for "lin". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "lapin" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "lin" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #399,927 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "lapin" and "lin" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lep vs lin". 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 #399,927 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list