Which to use
“latence” is a noun and “latent” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #31,114
- “latence” frequency rank
- #36,926
- “latent” frequency rank
- 68040
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | latence | latent |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Qualité d'une propriété dissimulée et amenée à apparaître ultérieurement. → voir phase de latence | Non apparent, qui ne se manifeste pas, sous-jacent. |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set latence and latent apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
latence and latent form a confusable pair in the French index, two distinct headwords that are easily confused because they look alike, sound alike, or both. They differ by 1 letter(s) in length - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 68040, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
latence is recorded at frequency rank #31,114, classified as anoun, pronounced \la.tɑ̃s\. latent is at rank #36,926, tagged as anadj, pronounced \la.tɑ̃\.
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 68040, this pair ranks #60,855 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "latence" and "latent" be used interchangeably?
Remembering latence vs latent
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “latence”; for an adjective, it's “latent”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “latence” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable