Which to use
“payot” and “pilot” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #32,519
- “payot” frequency rank
- #31,183
- “pilot” frequency rank
- 63702
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | payot | pilot |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Gadjo, non-gitan. | Gros pieu de pilotis. |
Where the eye mixes payot and pilot
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. payot (CVVVC) and pilot (CVCVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Why the eye confuses payot with pilot
A purely visual mix-up. payot (\pa.jo\) and pilot (\pi.lo\) 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 63702, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
payot is recorded at frequency rank #32,519, classified as anoun, pronounced \pa.jo\. pilot is at rank #31,183, tagged as anoun, pronounced \pi.lo\.
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 63702, this pair ranks #80,621 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of payot vs pilot
Shared letters: opt. Private to "payot": ay. Private to "pilot": il.
"payot" · 5 letters · shape CVVVC · "pilot" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "payot" and "pilot" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "payot" or "pilot"?
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 "payot" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "pilot" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #80,621 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "payot" and "pilot" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pilot vs pivots". 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 #80,621 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.