picvsPMRConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#5,593
“pic” frequency rank
#48,720
“PMR” frequency rank
54313
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature pic PMR
Definition Oiseau grimpeur se nourrissant de larves qu’il va chercher dans l’écorce en la frappant par des coups de bec répétés pour tester la résonance du bois (martèlement) ; communiquant également avec ses congénères par ce moyen (tambourinage) et creusant son nid dans un tronc d’arbre. Personne à mobilité réduite ; par exemple, personne qui se déplace en fauteuil roulant.

Where the eye mixes pic and PMR

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.

3 ch
pic
3 ch
PMR

Why the eye confuses pic with PMR

A purely visual mix-up. pic (\pik\) and PMR (\pe.ɛm.ɛʁ\) 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 54313, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

pic is recorded at frequency rank #5,593, classified as anoun, pronounced \pik\. PMR is at rank #48,720, tagged as anoun, pronounced \pe.ɛm.ɛʁ\.

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 54313, this pair ranks #134,865 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of pic vs PMR

Shared letters: p. Private to "pic": ci. Private to "PMR": mr.

"pic" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "PMR" · 3 letters · shape CCC

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "pic" for "PMR" ever safe?
No. They are said differently (\pik\ versus \pe.ɛm.ɛʁ\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "pic" vs "PMR" - which ranks higher?
"pic" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,593 in our French list, against #48,720 for "PMR". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "pic" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "PMR" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #134,865 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "pic" and "PMR" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pio vs PMR". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #134,865 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