Which to use
“patin” and “payen” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #23,309
- “patin” frequency rank
- #45,222
- “payen” frequency rank
- 68531
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | patin | payen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Sorte de semelle fort épaisse que l’on porte pour faire certains travaux de ménage ou pour se préserver de l’humidité. | Traverse de la roue à potier, sur laquelle l’ouvrier appuie ses pieds. |
Where the eye mixes patin and payen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. patin (CVCVC) and payen (CVVVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Visual trap between patin and payen
A purely visual mix-up. patin (\pa.tɛ̃\) and payen (\pa.jɛ̃\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 68531, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
patin is recorded at frequency rank #23,309, classified as anoun, pronounced \pa.tɛ̃\. payen is at rank #45,222, tagged as anoun, pronounced \pa.jɛ̃\.
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 68531, this pair ranks #58,798 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of patin vs payen
Shared letters: anp. Private to "patin": it. Private to "payen": ey.
"patin" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "payen" · 5 letters · shape CVVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "patin" and "payen" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "patin" vs "payen" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "patin" and "payen" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "patin" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "payen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #58,798 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "patin" and "payen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "palin vs payen". 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 #58,798 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.