Which to use
“Littré” is a name and “loutre” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #48,015
- “Littré” frequency rank
- #32,056
- “loutre” frequency rank
- 80071
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Littré | loutre |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Nom de famille français, rendu célèbre par Émile Littré, lexicographe du dix-neuvième siècle. | Espèce de mammifère carnivore de la famille des martres, grand à peu près comme un renard, mais plus bas de pattes, et à tête plate et obtuse, semi-aquatiques, qui vit au bord des rivières. |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set Littré and loutre apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Littré is \li.tʁe\ while loutre is \lutʁ\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (name vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 80071, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Littré is recorded at frequency rank #48,015, classified as aname, pronounced \li.tʁe\. loutre is at rank #32,056, tagged as anoun, pronounced \lutʁ\.
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 80071, this pair ranks #21,798 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of Littré vs loutre
Shared letters: lrt. Private to "Littré": ié. Private to "loutre": eou.
"Littré" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCV · "loutre" · 6 letters · shape CVVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- loutre ← lloutre · loture · lourte · louter · loutrre · louttre · luotre · olutre
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "Littré" and "loutre" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "Littré" or "loutre"?
Remembering Littré vs loutre
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need a name, it's “Littré”; for a noun, it's “loutre”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “Littré” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable