Which to use
“lin” and “lys” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #8,118
- “lin” frequency rank
- #14,079
- “lys” frequency rank
- 22197
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | lin | lys |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Plante herbacée de la famille des Linacées, à feuilles simples, à fleurs généralement bleues, cultivée dans les pays tempérés pour ses graines oléagineuses et pour la fibre textile que fournit sa tige. | Genre de liliacées qui porte, sur une haute tige, des fleurs à trois pétales et trois sépales pétaloïdes. |
Where the eye mixes lin and lys
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.
Why the eye confuses lin with lys
A purely visual mix-up. lin (\lɛ̃\) and lys (\lis\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 22197, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
lin is recorded at frequency rank #8,118, classified as anoun, pronounced \lɛ̃\. lys is at rank #14,079, tagged as anoun, pronounced \lis\.
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 22197, this pair ranks #359,335 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of lin vs lys
Shared letters: l. Private to "lin": in. Private to "lys": sy.
"lin" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "lys" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "lin" and "lys" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "lin" vs "lys" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "lin" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "lys" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #359,335 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "lin" and "lys" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lep vs lys". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #359,335 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.