Which to use
“légat” is a noun and “lègue” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #28,638
- “légat” frequency rank
- #32,472
- “lègue” frequency rank
- 61110
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | légat | lègue |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Ambassadeur, lieutenant d’un commandant d'armée, ou haut fonctionnaire romain. | Première personne du singulier du présent de l’indicatif de léguer. |
Where the eye mixes légat and lègue
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. légat (CVCVC) and lègue (CVCVV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Look-alike desk: légat vs lègue
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: légat is \le.ɡa\ while lègue is \lɛɡ\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 61110, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
légat is recorded at frequency rank #28,638, classified as anoun, pronounced \le.ɡa\. lègue is at rank #32,472, tagged as averb, pronounced \lɛɡ\.
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 61110, this pair ranks #94,020 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of légat vs lègue
Shared letters: gl. Private to "légat": até. Private to "lègue": euè.
"légat" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "lègue" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "légat" and "lègue" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "légat" vs "lègue" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "légat" and "lègue" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "légat" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "lègue" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #94,020 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "légat" and "lègue" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lègue vs leste". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #94,020 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.