quintvsquinteWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#19,956
“quint” frequency rank
#28,314
“quinte” frequency rank
48270
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature quint quinte
Definition Cinquième partie dans quelque somme, dans quelque marché, dans quelque succession. Intervalle de cinq notes consécutives, y compris les deux extrêmes.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set quint and quinte apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
quint
6 ch
quinte

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. quint (\kɛ̃\) and quinte (\kɛ̃t\) 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 1 extra letter(s) - “quint” sits inside “quinte”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 48270, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

quint is recorded at frequency rank #19,956, classified as anoun, pronounced \kɛ̃\. quinte is at rank #28,314, tagged as anoun, pronounced \kɛ̃t\.

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 48270, this pair ranks #180,253 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of quint vs quinte

Shared letters: inqtu. Private to "quint": -. Private to "quinte": e.

"quint" · 5 letters · shape CVVCC  ·  "quinte" · 6 letters · shape CVVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • quintqiunt · qquint · quinnt · quintt · quitn · qunit · uqint
  • quinteqiunte · qquinte · quinet · quinnte · quintte · quitne · qunite · uqinte

Frequency comparison

quint#19,956
quinte#28,314

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "quint" and "quinte" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\kɛ̃\ versus \kɛ̃t\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "quint" or "quinte"?
"quint" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #19,956 in our French list, against #28,314 for "quinte". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering quint vs quinte

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 “quint” 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