Which to use
“péril” and “period” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #7,489
- “péril” frequency rank
- #44,088
- “period” frequency rank
- 51577
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | péril | period |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Danger, risque, état où il y a quelque chose de fâcheux à craindre. | Période. |
Where the eye mixes péril and period
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. péril runs 5 letters (CVCVC) against period's 6 (CVCVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: péril vs period
A purely visual mix-up. péril (\pe.ʁil\) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 51577, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
péril is recorded at frequency rank #7,489, classified as anoun, pronounced \pe.ʁil\. 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 51577, this pair ranks #153,981 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of péril vs period
Shared letters: ipr. Private to "péril": lé. Private to "period": deo.
"péril" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "period" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- period ← epriod · peirod · perido · periodd · peroid · perriod · pperiod · preiod
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "péril" for "period" ever safe?
Frequency check: "péril" vs "period" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "péril" and "period" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "péril" 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 #153,981 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "péril" 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 #153,981 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.