Which to use
“Pagny” is a name and “paon” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #31,641
- “Pagny” frequency rank
- #28,277
- “paon” frequency rank
- 59918
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Pagny | paon |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Nom de famille. | Grand oiseau domesticable, de l’ordre des gallinacés, dont le cri est strident, qui a un beau plumage mordoré, une petite aigrette sur la tête et dont la queue se compose de longues plumes couvertes d’ocelles, marques de différentes couleurs en forme d’yeux. |
Where the eye mixes Pagny and paon
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. Pagny runs 5 letters (CVCCV) against paon's 4 (CVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses Pagny with paon
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Pagny is \pa.ɲi\ while paon is \pɑ̃\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (name vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 59918, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Pagny is recorded at frequency rank #31,641, classified as aname, pronounced \pa.ɲi\. paon is at rank #28,277, tagged as anoun, pronounced \pɑ̃\.
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 59918, this pair ranks #100,464 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of Pagny vs paon
Shared letters: anp. Private to "Pagny": gy. Private to "paon": o.
"Pagny" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "paon" · 4 letters · shape CVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "Pagny" for "paon" ever safe?
Which is more common, "Pagny" or "paon"?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "Pagny" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "paon" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #100,464 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Pagny" and "paon" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "paon vs pio". 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 #100,464 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.