membervsmembreWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#47,454
“member” frequency rank
#1,034
“membre” frequency rank
48488
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature member membre
Definition Membre (élément d’un groupe humain). Partie extérieure du corps d’un être humain ou d’un animal, distinguée de toutes les autres par quelque fonction particulière. Note d’usage : Se dit principalement des bras et des jambes ; ne se dit jamais de la tête.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set member and membre apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
member
6 ch
membre

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

member and membre form a confusable pair in the French index, two distinct headwords that are easily confused because they look alike, sound alike, or both. They differ only by swapping two adjacent letters (er ↔ re) - a transposition the eye reads straight past - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 48488, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

member is recorded at frequency rank #47,454, classified as anoun, pronounced \ˈmɛm.bɚ\. membre is at rank #1,034, tagged as anoun, pronounced \mɑ̃bʁ\.

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 48488, this pair ranks #178,493 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Frequency comparison

member#47,454
membre#1,034

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "member" and "membre" be used interchangeably?
No, "member" and "membre" have distinct meanings and cannot be swapped without changing the meaning of a sentence. Understanding the specific definition and context for each word is essential for correct usage.

Remembering member vs membre

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 “member” 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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list