Which to use
“légions” and “lions” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #17,757
- “légions” frequency rank
- #7,456
- “lions” frequency rank
- 25213
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | légions | lions |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de légion. | Pluriel de lion. |
Where the eye mixes légions and lions
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. légions runs 7 letters (CVCVVCC) against lions's 5 (CVVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between légions and lions
A purely visual mix-up. légions (\le.ʒjɔ̃\) and lions (\ljɔ̃\) 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 25213, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
légions is recorded at frequency rank #17,757, classified as anoun, pronounced \le.ʒjɔ̃\. lions is at rank #7,456, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ljɔ̃\.
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 25213, this pair ranks #342,148 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of légions vs lions
Shared letters: ilnos. Private to "légions": gé. Private to "lions": -.
"légions" · 7 letters · shape CVCVVCC · "lions" · 5 letters · shape CVVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- lions ← ilons · linos · lionns · lionss · liosn · llions
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "légions" and "lions" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "légions" vs "lions" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "légions" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "lions" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #342,148 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "légions" and "lions" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "légions vs Legros". 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 #342,148 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.