rabaisvsrachisConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#12,034
“rabais” frequency rank
#49,307
“rachis” frequency rank
61341
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature rabais rachis
Definition Acte par lequel un vendeur consent une diminution sur le prix d’un objet ou sur la rémunération d’un travail. Empilement de 33 ou 34 vertèbres, qui forment le support du dos des vertébrés et sur certaines desquelles sont fixées les côtes.

Where the eye mixes rabais and rachis

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. rabais (CVCVVC) and rachis (CVCCVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

6 ch
rabais
6 ch
rachis

Look-alike desk: rabais vs rachis

A purely visual mix-up. rabais (\ʁa.bɛ\) and rachis (\ʁa.ʃis\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 61341, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

rabais is recorded at frequency rank #12,034, classified as anoun, pronounced \ʁa.bɛ\. rachis is at rank #49,307, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ʁa.ʃis\.

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 61341, this pair ranks #92,783 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of rabais vs rachis

Shared letters: airs. Private to "rabais": b. Private to "rachis": ch.

"rabais" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC  ·  "rachis" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • rabais ← arbais · raabis · rabaiss · rabasi · rabbais · rabias · rbaais · rrabais
  • rachis ← archis · racchis · rachhis · rachiss · rachsi · racihs · rahcis · rcahis

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "rabais" and "rachis" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (\ʁa.bɛ\ versus \ʁa.ʃis\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary French text, does "rabais" or "rachis" show up more?
"rabais" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #12,034 in our French list, against #49,307 for "rachis". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "rabais" and "rachis" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "rabais" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "rachis" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #92,783 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "rabais" and "rachis" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "rachis vs rais". 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 #92,783 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