Which to use
“pilon” and “piston” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #24,716
- “pilon” frequency rank
- #18,560
- “piston” frequency rank
- 43276
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | pilon | piston |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Instrument dont on se sert pour piler quelque chose dans un mortier, pour écraser quelque chose dans un mortier. | Cylindre mobile dans le corps d’une pompe, organe de machine constitué par une cloison, mobile entre deux fluides à des pressions différentes, et destiné à transmettre un effort moteur. |
Where the eye mixes pilon and piston
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: pilon vs piston
A purely visual mix-up. pilon (\pi.lɔ̃\) and piston (\pis.tɔ̃\) 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 43276, 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\. piston is at rank #18,560, tagged as anoun, pronounced \pis.tɔ̃\.
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 43276, this pair ranks #219,339 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of pilon vs piston
Shared letters: inop. Private to "pilon": l. Private to "piston": st.
"pilon" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "piston" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "pilon" for "piston" ever safe?
In ordinary French text, does "pilon" or "piston" show up more?
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 "pilon" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "piston" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #219,339 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "pilon" and "piston" 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 #219,339 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.