Which to use
“mille” and “mince” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #1,924
- “mille” frequency rank
- #4,353
- “mince” frequency rank
- 6277
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | mille | mince |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Dix fois cent unités, 10³ | Qui a peu d’épaisseur. |
Where the eye mixes mille and mince
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses mille with mince
A purely visual mix-up. mille (\mil\) and mince (\mɛ̃s\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 6277, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
mille is recorded at frequency rank #1,924, classified as anadj, pronounced \mil\. mince is at rank #4,353, tagged as anadj, pronounced \mɛ̃s\.
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 6277, this pair ranks #426,677 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of mille vs mince
Shared letters: eim. Private to "mille": l. Private to "mince": cn.
"mille" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "mince" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "mille" and "mince" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "mille" vs "mince" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "mille" and "mince" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "mille" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "mince" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #426,677 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "mille" and "mince" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "mane vs mince". 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 #426,677 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.