Which to use
“pilon” and “pilori” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #24,716
- “pilon” frequency rank
- #37,972
- “pilori” frequency rank
- 62688
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | pilon | pilori |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Instrument dont on se sert pour piler quelque chose dans un mortier, pour écraser quelque chose dans un mortier. | Roue, poteau ou pilier sur lequel on attachait un condamné pour l’exposer en public au mépris de tous. |
Where the eye mixes pilon and pilori
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. pilon runs 5 letters (CVCVC) against pilori's 6 (CVCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses pilon with pilori
A purely visual mix-up. pilon (\pi.lɔ̃\) and pilori (\pi.lɔ.ʁi\) 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 62688, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
pilon is recorded at frequency rank #24,716, classified as anoun, pronounced \pi.lɔ̃\. pilori is at rank #37,972, tagged as anoun, pronounced \pi.lɔ.ʁi\.
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 62688, this pair ranks #85,848 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of pilon vs pilori
Shared letters: ilop. Private to "pilon": n. Private to "pilori": r.
"pilon" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "pilori" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "pilon" and "pilori" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary French text, does "pilon" or "pilori" show up more?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "pilon" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "pilori" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #85,848 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "pilon" and "pilori" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pilar vs pilori". 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 #85,848 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.