paixvspieConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#908
“paix” frequency rank
#8,596
“pie” frequency rank
9504
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature paix pie
Definition Calme, repos, silence, éloignement du bruit ou des affaires. Passereau de la famille des corvidés à longue queue, à plumage noir et au ventre blanc, renommé pour son bavardage et son attirance envers les objets brillants.

Where the eye mixes paix and pie

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

4 ch
paix
3 ch
pie

Visual trap between paix and pie

A purely visual mix-up. paix (\pɛ\) and pie (\pi\) 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 9504, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

paix is recorded at frequency rank #908, classified as anoun, pronounced \pɛ\. pie is at rank #8,596, tagged as anoun, pronounced \pi\.

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 9504, this pair ranks #416,402 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of paix vs pie

Shared letters: ip. Private to "paix": ax. Private to "pie": e.

"paix" · 4 letters · shape CVVC  ·  "pie" · 3 letters · shape CVV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • paixapix · paixx · paxi · piax · ppaix

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "paix" for "pie" ever safe?
No. They are said differently (\pɛ\ versus \pi\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "paix" vs "pie" - which ranks higher?
"paix" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #908 in our French list, against #8,596 for "pie". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "paix" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "pie" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #416,402 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "paix" and "pie" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pie vs prep". 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 #416,402 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