odysséevsOdysseyWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: odyssée is a noun, Odyssey is a name, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“odyssée” is a noun and “Odyssey” is a name - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#16,958
“odyssée” frequency rank
#34,644
“Odyssey” frequency rank
51602
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature odyssée Odyssey
Definition Voyage maritime, très long et riche en péripéties. Odyssée.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set odyssée and Odyssey apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
odyssée
7 ch
Odyssey

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: odyssée is \ɔ.di.se\ while Odyssey is \ˈɒ.dɨ.si\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs name), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 51602, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

odyssée is recorded at frequency rank #16,958, classified as anoun, pronounced \ɔ.di.se\. Odyssey is at rank #34,644, tagged as aname, pronounced \ˈɒ.dɨ.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 51602, this pair ranks #153,798 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of odyssée vs Odyssey

Shared letters: deosy. Private to "odyssée": é. Private to "Odyssey": -.

"odyssée" · 7 letters · shape VCVCCVV  ·  "Odyssey" · 7 letters · shape VCVCCVV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Odysseydoyssey · oddyssey · odsysey · odysesy · odysey · odysseyy · odyssye · odyyssey

Frequency comparison

odyssée#16,958
Odyssey#34,644

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "odyssée" and "Odyssey" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "odyssée" is a noun and "Odyssey" a name, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "odyssée" or "Odyssey"?
"odyssée" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #16,958 in our French list, against #34,644 for "Odyssey". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering odyssée vs Odyssey

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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