Which to use
“patine” and “patrie” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #30,301
- “patine” frequency rank
- #6,224
- “patrie” frequency rank
- 36525
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | patine | patrie |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Vert-de-gris se formant sur les objets en cuivre ou en bronze. | La terre des ancêtres, le pays où l’on est né, la nation dont on fait partie, la société politique dont on est membre. |
Where the eye mixes patine and patrie
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: patine vs patrie
A purely visual mix-up. patine (\pa.tin\) and patrie (\pa.tʁi\) 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 36525, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
patine is recorded at frequency rank #30,301, classified as anoun, pronounced \pa.tin\. patrie is at rank #6,224, tagged as anoun, pronounced \pa.tʁi\.
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 36525, this pair ranks #268,993 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of patine vs patrie
Shared letters: aeipt. Private to "patine": n. Private to "patrie": r.
"patine" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV · "patrie" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "patine" for "patrie" ever safe?
Which is more common, "patine" or "patrie"?
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 "patine" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "patrie" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #268,993 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "patine" and "patrie" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "patine vs piétiné". 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 #268,993 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.