Which to use
“lune” and “lyre” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #2,045
- “lune” frequency rank
- #30,253
- “lyre” frequency rank
- 32298
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | lune | lyre |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Satellite naturel de la Terre, qui tourne autour de celle-ci en un cycle de vingt-sept jours sept heures quarante-trois minutes. Le satellite réfléchit sur la Terre la lumière qu’il reçoit du Soleil. Lune s’écrit avec une majuscule en astronomie lorsqu'on s'en sert comme nom propre de cet astre, pour le distinguer des autres satellites naturels. | Cordophone portable à cordes pincées parallèles au chevalet, dont la caisse de résonance ne se prolonge pas par un manche, qui était en usage chez les anciens. |
Where the eye mixes lune and lyre
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses lune with lyre
A purely visual mix-up. lune (\lyn\) and lyre (\liʁ\) 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 32298, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
lune is recorded at frequency rank #2,045, classified as anoun, pronounced \lyn\. lyre is at rank #30,253, tagged as anoun, pronounced \liʁ\.
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 32298, this pair ranks #298,158 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of lune vs lyre
Shared letters: el. Private to "lune": nu. Private to "lyre": ry.
"lune" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "lyre" · 4 letters · shape CVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "lune" for "lyre" ever safe?
Frequency check: "lune" vs "lyre" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "lune" and "lyre" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "lune" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "lyre" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #298,158 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "lune" and "lyre" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lar vs lyre". 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 #298,158 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.