lingevslingesWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#6,842
“linge” frequency rank
#48,013
“linges” frequency rank
54855
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature linge linges
Definition Tissu de fil ou de coton servant à l’usage du corps ou à des emplois domestiques. Pluriel de linge.

Same sound, different letters: linge vs linges

Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 5 letters. linge runs 5 letters (CVCCV) against linges's 6 (CVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

5 ch
linge
6 ch
linges

Homophone desk: linge vs linges

This is the hard kind. linge and linges are pronounced identically (\lɛ̃ʒ\) and both work as anoun. Neither the ear nor the grammar will rescue you; only the meaning does, so the glosses below are the whole decision. They differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “linge” sits inside “linges”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 54855, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

linge is recorded at frequency rank #6,842, classified as anoun, pronounced \lɛ̃ʒ\. linges is at rank #48,013, tagged as anoun, pronounced \lɛ̃ʒ\.

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 54855, this pair ranks #131,231 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of linge vs linges

Shared letters: egiln. Private to "linge": -. Private to "linges": s.

"linge" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "linges" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • linge ← ilnge · lineg · lingge · linnge · llinge · lnige
  • linges ← ilnges · linegs · lingess · lingges · lingse · linnges · llinges · lniges

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "linge" and "linges" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are pronounced the same (\lɛ̃ʒ\), which is exactly why they get swapped in writing, but the dictionary meanings above are different, and pronunciation is no guide here.
Frequency check: "linge" vs "linges" - which ranks higher?
"linge" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,842 in our French list, against #48,013 for "linges". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

You've separated the homophone pair "linge" / "linges". Follow the links when you need the full entry or a neighbour that trips the same ear.

  • Full dictionary entry for "linge" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "linges" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #131,231 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "linge" and "linges" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "limes vs linges". 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 #131,231 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