Which to use
“orteil” and “outil” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #19,087
- “orteil” frequency rank
- #2,943
- “outil” frequency rank
- 22030
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | orteil | outil |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Doigt du pied, chez les humains et les primates. | Instrument dont les artisans, les jardiniers, etc., se servent pour leur travail. |
Where the eye mixes orteil and outil
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses orteil with outil
A purely visual mix-up. orteil (\ɔʁ.tɛj\) and outil (\u.ti\) 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 22030, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
orteil is recorded at frequency rank #19,087, classified as anoun, pronounced \ɔʁ.tɛj\. outil is at rank #2,943, tagged as anoun, pronounced \u.ti\.
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 22030, this pair ranks #360,137 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of orteil vs outil
Shared letters: ilot. Private to "orteil": er. Private to "outil": u.
"orteil" · 6 letters · shape VCCVVC · "outil" · 5 letters · shape VVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "orteil" for "outil" ever safe?
Frequency check: "orteil" vs "outil" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "orteil" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "outil" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #360,137 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "orteil" and "outil" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Ortega vs orteil". 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 #360,137 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.