meurtvsmeurtreWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: meurt is a verb, meurtre is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“meurt” is a verb and “meurtre” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#2,786
“meurt” frequency rank
#2,484
“meurtre” frequency rank
5270
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature meurt meurtre
Definition Troisième personne du singulier du présent de l’indicatif du verbe mourir. Homicide volontaire.

Where the spellings diverge

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

5 ch
meurt
7 ch
meurtre

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

meurt and meurtre 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 by 2 extra letter(s) - “meurt” sits inside “meurtre” - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 5270, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

meurt is recorded at frequency rank #2,786, classified as averb, pronounced \mœʁ\. meurtre is at rank #2,484, tagged as anoun, pronounced \mœʁtʁ\.

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 5270, this pair ranks #429,472 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Frequency comparison

meurt#2,786
meurtre#2,484

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "meurt" and "meurtre" be used interchangeably?
No, "meurt" and "meurtre" 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 meurt vs meurtre

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “meurt”; for a noun, it's “meurtre”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “meurt” 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