microscopevsmicroscopieWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#21,082
“microscope” frequency rank
#44,584
“microscopie” frequency rank
65666
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature microscope microscopie
Definition Instrument d'optique qui a la propriété de faire paraître les petits objets plus gros qu’ils ne paraissent à l’œil nu, essentiellement composé d’un objectif et d’un oculaire qui sont renfermés dans un tube. Étude des microscopes.

Where the eye mixes microscope and microscopie

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 10 letters in sequence.

10 ch
microscope
11 ch
microscopie

Visual trap between microscope and microscopie

A purely visual mix-up. microscope (\mi.kʁɔs.kɔp\) and microscopie (\mi.kʁɔs.kɔ.pi\) 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 65666, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

microscope is recorded at frequency rank #21,082, classified as anoun, pronounced \mi.kʁɔs.kɔp\. microscopie is at rank #44,584, tagged as anoun, pronounced \mi.kʁɔs.kɔ.pi\.

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 65666, this pair ranks #71,292 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of microscope vs microscopie

Shared letters: ceimoprs. Private to "microscope": -. Private to "microscopie": -.

"microscope" · 10 letters · shape CVCCVCCVCV  ·  "microscopie" · 11 letters · shape CVCCVCCVCVV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • microscopeimcroscope · mciroscope · miccroscope · micorscope · microcsope · microsccope · microscoep · microscoppe
  • microscopieimcroscopie · mciroscopie · miccroscopie · micorscopie · microcsopie · microsccopie · microscoipe · microscopei

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "microscope" and "microscopie" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\mi.kʁɔs.kɔp\ versus \mi.kʁɔs.kɔ.pi\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "microscope" vs "microscopie" - which ranks higher?
"microscope" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #21,082 in our French list, against #44,584 for "microscopie". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "microscope" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "microscopie" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #71,292 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "microscope" and "microscopie" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "microscopie vs microscopique". 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 #71,292 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list