Which to use
“pignon” and “pilon” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #16,703
- “pignon” frequency rank
- #24,716
- “pilon” frequency rank
- 41419
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | pignon | pilon |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Roue dentée faisant partie d’un système à chaîne (inventée en 1880) ou d’un couple d’engrenage dans un système de transmission ou un réducteur. Le pignon est la roue dentée qui a le plus petit nombre de dents. | Instrument dont on se sert pour piler quelque chose dans un mortier, pour écraser quelque chose dans un mortier. |
Where the eye mixes pignon and pilon
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between pignon and pilon
A purely visual mix-up. pignon (\pi.ɲɔ̃\) and pilon (\pi.lɔ̃\) 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 41419, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
pignon is recorded at frequency rank #16,703, classified as anoun, pronounced \pi.ɲɔ̃\. pilon is at rank #24,716, tagged as anoun, pronounced \pi.lɔ̃\.
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 41419, this pair ranks #233,259 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of pignon vs pilon
Shared letters: inop. Private to "pignon": g. Private to "pilon": l.
"pignon" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "pilon" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "pignon" and "pilon" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "pignon" vs "pilon" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "pignon" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "pilon" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #233,259 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "pignon" and "pilon" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pilon vs pio". 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 #233,259 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.