lingevslinnTell them apart

Which to use

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

#6,842
“linge” frequency rank
#46,866
“linn” frequency rank
53708
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

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

Where the eye mixes linge and linn

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. linge runs 5 letters (CVCCV) against linn's 4 (CVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

5 ch
linge
4 ch
linn

Visual trap between linge and linn

A purely visual mix-up. linge (\lɛ̃ʒ\) and linn (\linʲˑ\) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 53708, 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\. linn is at rank #46,866, tagged as anoun, pronounced \linʲˑ\.

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 53708, this pair ranks #138,936 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of linge vs linn

Shared letters: iln. Private to "linge": eg. Private to "linn": -.

"linge" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "linn" · 4 letters · shape CVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • linge ← ilnge · lineg · lingge · linnge · llinge · lnige
  • linn ← ilnn · llinn · lnin

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "linge" for "linn" ever safe?
No. They are said differently (\lɛ̃ʒ\ versus \linʲˑ\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "linge" vs "linn" - which ranks higher?
"linge" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,842 in our French list, against #46,866 for "linn". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "linge" and "linn" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "linge" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "linn" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #138,936 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "linge" and "linn" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "linn vs lung". 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 #138,936 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