lutvsluthWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#40,358
“lut” frequency rank
#36,476
“luth” frequency rank
76834
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature lut luth
Definition Se dit de pâtes ou d'enduits qu'on applique sur les bouchons des vases pour en assurer la fermeture hermétique, autour des cornues, des tubes de verre pour les soustraire à l'action directe du feu, ou qu'on utilise pour obturer des trous, pour faire des joints etc. Cordophone portable d’origine arabe, de corps généralement piriforme prolongé par un manche recouvert d'une touche sur laquelle le musicien appuie avec les doigts d'une main les cordes tendues attachées au cordier à une extrémité, et à la table d'harmonie à l'autre, ceci afin de modifier les notes obtenues, tandis que de l'autre main il excite les cordes à vibrer au-dessus de la caisse de résonance, soit en les tirant et les relâchant vivement, ou les frappant, soit en les frottant avec un outil tel un archet.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set lut and luth apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

3 ch
lut
4 ch
luth

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

This is the hard kind. lut and luth are pronounced identically (\lyt\) and both work as anoun. Neither the ear nor the grammar will rescue you; only the meaning does, so the glosses below are the whole decision. They differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “lut” sits inside “luth”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 76834, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

lut is recorded at frequency rank #40,358, classified as anoun, pronounced \lyt\. luth is at rank #36,476, tagged as anoun, pronounced \lyt\.

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 76834, this pair ranks #30,053 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of lut vs luth

Shared letters: ltu. Private to "lut": -. Private to "luth": h.

"lut" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "luth" · 4 letters · shape CVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • luthlluth · ltuh · luht · luthh · lutth · ulth

Frequency comparison

lut#40,358
luth#36,476

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "lut" and "luth" be used interchangeably?
No. They are pronounced the same (\lyt\), which is exactly why they get swapped in writing, but the dictionary meanings above are different, and pronunciation is no guide here.
Which is more common, "lut" or "luth"?
"luth" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #36,476 in our French list, against #40,358 for "lut". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering lut vs luth

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 “lut” 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