Which to use
“poutre” and “prêtre” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #15,725
- “poutre” frequency rank
- #3,215
- “prêtre” frequency rank
- 18940
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | poutre | prêtre |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pièce de bois de forme allongée, servant dans les constructions à supporter une charpente ou un parquet. | Celui qui exerce une fonction sacrée et qui préside aux cérémonies d’un culte religieux. |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set poutre and prêtre apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
poutre and prêtre form a confusable pair in the French index, two distinct headwords that are easily confused because they look alike, sound alike, or both. They share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 18940, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
poutre is recorded at frequency rank #15,725, classified as anoun, pronounced \putʁ\. prêtre is at rank #3,215, tagged as anoun, pronounced \pʁɛtʁ\.
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 18940, this pair ranks #375,832 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "poutre" and "prêtre" be used interchangeably?
Remembering poutre vs prêtre
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “poutre” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable