noixvsnozWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#6,719
“noix” frequency rank
#38,450
“noz” frequency rank
45169
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature noix noz
Definition Fruit charnu produit par le noyer (Juglans). C’est une drupe composée d’une écale non consommable, le brou (mésocarpe) et d’un noyau qui, une fois lignifié, en constitue la coque (endocarpe). Nuit.

Where the eye mixes noix and noz

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. noix runs 4 letters (CVVC) against noz's 3 (CVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

4 ch
noix
3 ch
noz

Why the eye confuses noix with noz

A purely visual mix-up. noix (\nwa\) and noz (\ˈnoːs\) 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 45169, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

noix is recorded at frequency rank #6,719, classified as anoun, pronounced \nwa\. noz is at rank #38,450, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ˈnoːs\.

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 45169, this pair ranks #204,850 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of noix vs noz

Shared letters: no. Private to "noix": ix. Private to "noz": z.

"noix" · 4 letters · shape CVVC  ·  "noz" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • noix ← niox · nnoix · noixx · noxi · onix

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "noix" and "noz" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (\nwa\ versus \ˈnoːs\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "noix" vs "noz" - which ranks higher?
"noix" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,719 in our French list, against #38,450 for "noz". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "noix" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "noz" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #204,850 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "noix" and "noz" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "nop vs noz". 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 #204,850 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