Which to use
“mercis” and “mercy” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #48,043
- “mercis” frequency rank
- #24,673
- “mercy” frequency rank
- 72716
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | mercis | mercy |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de merci. | Miséricorde. |
Where the eye mixes mercis and mercy
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. mercis runs 6 letters (CVCCVC) against mercy's 5 (CVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses mercis with mercy
A purely visual mix-up. mercis (\mɛʁ.si\) and mercy (\ˈmɝ.si\) 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 72716, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
mercis is recorded at frequency rank #48,043, classified as anoun, pronounced \mɛʁ.si\. mercy is at rank #24,673, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ˈmɝ.si\.
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 72716, this pair ranks #43,021 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of mercis vs mercy
Shared letters: cemr. Private to "mercis": is. Private to "mercy": y.
"mercis" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "mercy" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "mercis" and "mercy" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "mercis" or "mercy"?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "mercis" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "mercy" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #43,021 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "mercis" and "mercy" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "marcia vs mercis". 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 #43,021 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.