Which to use
“poids” and “poix” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #1,071
- “poids” frequency rank
- #38,482
- “poix” frequency rank
- 39553
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | poids | poix |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Force exercée par la pesanteur ; force qui attire les objets vers le sol. | Matière résineuse gluante et noire qui s’obtient par la distillation des bois résineux de pins ou de sapins. |
Same sound, different letters: poids vs poix
Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 3 letters. poids runs 5 letters (CVVCC) against poix's 4 (CVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Same sound, different spelling - poids / poix
This is the hard kind. poids and poix are pronounced identically (\pwa\) and both work as anoun. Neither the ear nor the grammar will rescue you; only the meaning does, so the glosses below are the whole decision. They differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 39553, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
poids is recorded at frequency rank #1,071, classified as anoun, pronounced \pwa\. poix is at rank #38,482, tagged as anoun, pronounced \pwa\.
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 39553, this pair ranks #247,110 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of poids vs poix
Shared letters: iop. Private to "poids": ds. Private to "poix": x.
"poids" · 5 letters · shape CVVCC · "poix" · 4 letters · shape CVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "poids" for "poix" ever safe?
In ordinary French text, does "poids" or "poix" show up more?
After this comparison
You've separated the homophone pair "poids" / "poix". Follow the links when you need the full entry or a neighbour that trips the same ear.
- Full dictionary entry for "poids" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "poix" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #247,110 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "poids" and "poix" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pio vs poix". 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 #247,110 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.