Which to use
“locus” and “loque” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #42,439
- “locus” frequency rank
- #46,272
- “loque” frequency rank
- 88711
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | locus | loque |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Emplacement d’un gène sur un chromosome. | Étoffe réduite en lambeaux par suite de l’usure. |
Where the eye mixes locus and loque
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. locus (CVCVC) and loque (CVCVV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Visual trap between locus and loque
A purely visual mix-up. locus (\lɔ.kys\) and loque (\lɔk\) 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 88711, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
locus is recorded at frequency rank #42,439, classified as anoun, pronounced \lɔ.kys\. loque is at rank #46,272, tagged as anoun, pronounced \lɔk\.
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 88711, this pair ranks #6,630 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of locus vs loque
Shared letters: lou. Private to "locus": cs. Private to "loque": eq.
"locus" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "loque" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "locus" for "loque" ever safe?
Frequency check: "locus" vs "loque" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "locus" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "loque" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #6,630 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "locus" and "loque" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Laroque vs loque". 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 #6,630 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.