Which to use
“pilon” and “pilote” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #24,716
- “pilon” frequency rank
- #2,490
- “pilote” frequency rank
- 27206
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | pilon | pilote |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Instrument dont on se sert pour piler quelque chose dans un mortier, pour écraser quelque chose dans un mortier. | Personne qui aide le capitaine d’un navire à l’entrée d’un port ou dans les passages difficiles ; celui qui gouverne, qui conduit un bâtiment de mer. |
Where the eye mixes pilon and pilote
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses pilon with pilote
A purely visual mix-up. pilon (\pi.lɔ̃\) and pilote (\pi.lɔt\) 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 27206, 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\. pilote is at rank #2,490, tagged as anoun, pronounced \pi.lɔt\.
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 27206, this pair ranks #330,452 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of pilon vs pilote
Shared letters: ilop. Private to "pilon": n. Private to "pilote": et.
"pilon" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "pilote" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "pilon" for "pilote" ever safe?
Which is more common, "pilon" or "pilote"?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "pilon" and "pilote" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "pilon" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "pilote" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #330,452 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "pilon" and "pilote" 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 #330,452 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.