Which to use
“pigeons” and “pignons” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #12,442
- “pigeons” frequency rank
- #27,910
- “pignons” frequency rank
- 40352
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | pigeons | pignons |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de pigeon. | Pluriel de pignon. |
Where the eye mixes pigeons and pignons
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. pigeons (CVCVVCC) and pignons (CVCCVCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Why the eye confuses pigeons with pignons
A purely visual mix-up. pigeons (\pi.ʒɔ̃\) and pignons (\pi.ɲɔ̃\) 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 a single letter - e in “pigeons” becomes n in “pignons”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 40352, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
pigeons is recorded at frequency rank #12,442, classified as anoun, pronounced \pi.ʒɔ̃\. pignons is at rank #27,910, tagged as anoun, pronounced \pi.ɲɔ̃\.
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 40352, this pair ranks #241,178 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of pigeons vs pignons
Shared letters: ginops. Private to "pigeons": e. Private to "pignons": -.
"pigeons" · 7 letters · shape CVCVVCC · "pignons" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "pigeons" and "pignons" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "pigeons" or "pignons"?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "pigeons" and "pignons" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "pigeons" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "pignons" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #241,178 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "pigeons" and "pignons" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pianos vs pignons". 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 #241,178 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.