prémicesvspropicesTell them apart

Quick tell: prémices is a noun, propices is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“prémices” is a noun and “propices” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#23,995
“prémices” frequency rank
#22,040
“propices” frequency rank
46035
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature prémices propices
Definition Dans l'Antiquité, premiers produits de la terre ou du bétail donnés en offrande à une divinité. Pluriel de propice.

Where the eye mixes prémices and propices

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.

8 ch
prémices
8 ch
propices

Visual trap between prémices and propices

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: prémices is \pʁe.mis\ while propices is \pʁɔ.pis\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 46035, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

prémices is recorded at frequency rank #23,995, classified as anoun, pronounced \pʁe.mis\. propices is at rank #22,040, tagged as anadj, pronounced \pʁɔ.pis\.

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 46035, this pair ranks #198,136 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of prémices vs propices

Shared letters: ceiprs. Private to "prémices": . Private to "propices": o.

"prémices" · 8 letters · shape CCVCVCVC  ·  "propices" · 8 letters · shape CCVCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • propicesporpices · ppropices · proipces · propcies · propicces · propicess · propicse · propiecs

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "prémices" and "propices" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "prémices" is a noun and "propices" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary French text, does "prémices" or "propices" show up more?
"propices" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #22,040 in our French list, against #23,995 for "prémices". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "prémices" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "propices" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #198,136 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "prémices" and "propices" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "prémices vs prémisse". 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 #198,136 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list