Which to use
“loir” and “loy” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #14,502
- “loir” frequency rank
- #44,027
- “loy” frequency rank
- 58529
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | loir | loy |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Petit mammifère de la famille des gliridés ou myoxidés, sous-ordre des myomorphes, ordre des rongeurs vrais ; il en existe plusieurs espèces en Europe, en Asie et en Afrique. | Ancienne variante orthographique de loi. |
Where the eye mixes loir and loy
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses loir with loy
A purely visual mix-up. loir (\lwaʁ\) and loy (\lwa\) 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 58529, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
loir is recorded at frequency rank #14,502, classified as anoun, pronounced \lwaʁ\. loy is at rank #44,027, tagged as anoun, pronounced \lwa\.
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 58529, this pair ranks #108,542 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of loir vs loy
Shared letters: lo. Private to "loir": ir. Private to "loy": y.
"loir" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "loy" · 3 letters · shape CVV
Known mistypes of this pair
- loir ← lior · lloir · loirr · olir
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "loir" and "loy" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary French text, does "loir" or "loy" show up more?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "loir" and "loy" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "loir" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "loy" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #108,542 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "loir" and "loy" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lobo vs loy". 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 #108,542 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.