Which to use
“prototype” and “prototypes” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #11,276
- “prototype” frequency rank
- #20,824
- “prototypes” frequency rank
- 32100
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | prototype | prototypes |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Première ébauche fonctionnelle d’un objet, d'un concept ou d’une idée développée par un concepteur, afin d'en évaluer la pertinence. | Pluriel de prototype. |
Same sound, different letters: prototype vs prototypes
Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 9 letters.
Homophone desk: prototype vs prototypes
This is the hard kind. prototype and prototypes are pronounced identically (\pʁɔ.tɔ.tip\) 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 extra letter(s) - “prototype” sits inside “prototypes”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 32100, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
prototype is recorded at frequency rank #11,276, classified as anoun, pronounced \pʁɔ.tɔ.tip\. prototypes is at rank #20,824, tagged as anoun, pronounced \pʁɔ.tɔ.tip\.
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 32100, this pair ranks #299,569 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of prototype vs prototypes
Shared letters: eoprty. Private to "prototype": -. Private to "prototypes": s.
"prototype" · 9 letters · shape CCVCVCVCV · "prototypes" · 10 letters · shape CCVCVCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- prototype ← portotype · pprototype · proottype · prototpye · protottype · prototyep · prototyppe · prototyype
- prototypes ← portotypes · pprototypes · proottypes · prototpyes · protottypes · prototyeps · prototypess · prototyppes
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "prototype" and "prototypes" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "prototype" or "prototypes"?
Useful next steps
Sound matches; spelling doesn't. Use the exits below to lock the right form or check a cousin pair.
- Full dictionary entry for "prototype" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "prototypes" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #299,569 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- 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 #299,569 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.