périvsperiodConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#12,649
“péri” frequency rank
#44,088
“period” frequency rank
56737
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature péri period
Definition Génie féminin qui, dans les contes persans, joue un rôle analogue à celui des fées dans les contes occidentaux. Période.

Where the eye mixes péri and period

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. péri runs 4 letters (CVCV) against period's 6 (CVCVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

4 ch
péri
6 ch
period

Visual trap between péri and period

A purely visual mix-up. péri (\pe.ʁi\) and period (['pɪərɪəd]) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 56737, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

péri is recorded at frequency rank #12,649, classified as anoun, pronounced \pe.ʁi\. period is at rank #44,088, tagged as anoun, pronounced ['pɪərɪəd].

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 56737, this pair ranks #119,221 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of péri vs period

Shared letters: ipr. Private to "péri": é. Private to "period": deo.

"péri" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "period" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • periodepriod · peirod · perido · periodd · peroid · perriod · pperiod · preiod

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "péri" for "period" ever safe?
No. They are said differently (\pe.ʁi\ versus ['pɪərɪəd]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "péri" vs "period" - which ranks higher?
"péri" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #12,649 in our French list, against #44,088 for "period". 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 "péri" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "period" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #119,221 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "péri" and "period" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "period vs pernod". 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 #119,221 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