Which to use
“légation” and “légion” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #49,775
- “légation” frequency rank
- #6,410
- “légion” frequency rank
- 56185
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | légation | légion |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Charge, office de légat. | Corps d’infanterie romaine ayant varié de quatre mille soldats sous la République romaine à six mille sous le Haut-Empire et environ mille au Bas-Empire, commandé par un légat de rang sénatorial. |
Where the eye mixes légation and légion
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. légation runs 8 letters (CVCVCVVC) against légion's 6 (CVCVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses légation with légion
A purely visual mix-up. légation (\le.ɡa.sjɔ̃\) and légion (\le.ʒjɔ̃\) 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 56185, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
légation is recorded at frequency rank #49,775, classified as anoun, pronounced \le.ɡa.sjɔ̃\. légion is at rank #6,410, tagged as anoun, pronounced \le.ʒjɔ̃\.
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 56185, this pair ranks #122,675 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of légation vs légion
Shared letters: gilnoé. Private to "légation": at. Private to "légion": -.
"légation" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCVVC · "légion" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "légation" and "légion" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "légation" or "légion"?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "légation" and "légion" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "légation" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "légion" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #122,675 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "légation" and "légion" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "légion vs Legros". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #122,675 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.