préceptevsprécepteurWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“précepte” and “précepteur” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#47,536
“précepte” frequency rank
#29,091
“précepteur” frequency rank
76627
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature précepte précepteur
Definition Règle ; leçon ; enseignement. Celui qui est chargé de l’instruction et de l’éducation d’un enfant, d’un jeune homme.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set précepte and précepteur apart are highlighted. They share 8 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

8 ch
précepte
10 ch
précepteur

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. précepte (\pʁe.sɛpt\) and précepteur (\pʁe.sɛp.tœʁ\) 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 2 extra letter(s) - “précepte” sits inside “précepteur”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 76627, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

précepte is recorded at frequency rank #47,536, classified as anoun, pronounced \pʁe.sɛpt\. précepteur is at rank #29,091, tagged as anoun, pronounced \pʁe.sɛp.tœʁ\.

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 76627, this pair ranks #30,592 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of précepte vs précepteur

Shared letters: ceprté. Private to "précepte": -. Private to "précepteur": u.

"précepte" · 8 letters · shape CCVCVCCV  ·  "précepteur" · 10 letters · shape CCVCVCCVVC

Frequency comparison

précepte#47,536
précepteur#29,091

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "précepte" and "précepteur" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\pʁe.sɛpt\ versus \pʁe.sɛp.tœʁ\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "précepte" or "précepteur"?
"précepteur" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #29,091 in our French list, against #47,536 for "précepte". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering précepte vs précepteur

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 “précepte” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list