lemvsloyConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#40,348
“lem” frequency rank
#44,027
“loy” frequency rank
84375
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature lem loy
Definition Membre, partie du corps. Ancienne variante orthographique de loi.

Letter map: lem vs loy

Shared letters muted; letters that set lem and loy apart highlighted. Shared run: 1. lem (CVC) and loy (CVV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

3 ch
lem
3 ch
loy

Spelling & dictionary notes on lem vs loy

lem and loy are indexed as a confusable French pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 84375, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

lem is recorded at frequency rank #40,348, classified as anoun. loy is at rank #44,027, tagged as anoun, pronounced \lwa\.

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 84375, this pair ranks #13,115 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of lem vs loy

Shared letters: l. Private to "lem": em. Private to "loy": oy.

"lem" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "loy" · 3 letters · shape CVV

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "lem" and "loy" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, but the dictionary glosses above give them different meanings, so swapping one for the other changes what the sentence says.
Frequency check: "lem" vs "loy" - which ranks higher?
"lem" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #40,348 in our French list, against #44,027 for "loy". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pair "lem" vs "loy" is on the table, pick a follow-up below.

  • Full dictionary entry for "lem" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "loy" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #13,115 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "lem" and "loy" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lobo vs loy". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #13,115 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