locusvslouisWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#42,439
“locus” frequency rank
#726
“louis” frequency rank
43165
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature locus louis
Definition Emplacement d’un gène sur un chromosome. Ancienne monnaie d’or française.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set locus and louis apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
locus
5 ch
louis

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. locus (\lɔ.kys\) and louis (\lwi\) 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 43165, 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\. louis is at rank #726, tagged as anoun, pronounced \lwi\.

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 43165, this pair ranks #220,153 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of locus vs louis

Shared letters: losu. Private to "locus": c. Private to "louis": i.

"locus" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "louis" · 5 letters · shape CVVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • locusllocus · loccus · locsu · locuss · loucs · olcus
  • louisllouis · loius · louiss · lousi · luois · oluis

Frequency comparison

locus#42,439
louis#726

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "locus" and "louis" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\lɔ.kys\ versus \lwi\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "locus" or "louis"?
"louis" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #726 in our French list, against #42,439 for "locus". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering locus vs louis

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “locus” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list