Which to use
“recel” and “recueil” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #27,211
- “recel” frequency rank
- #4,275
- “recueil” frequency rank
- 31486
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | recel | recueil |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Acte de celui ou de celle qui recèle. | Action de recueillir ; résultat de cette action. |
Where the eye mixes recel and recueil
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. recel runs 5 letters (CVCVC) against recueil's 7 (CVCVVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between recel and recueil
A purely visual mix-up. recel (\ʁə.sɛl\) and recueil (\ʁə.kœj\) 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 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 31486, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
recel is recorded at frequency rank #27,211, classified as anoun, pronounced \ʁə.sɛl\. recueil is at rank #4,275, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ʁə.kœj\.
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 31486, this pair ranks #303,504 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of recel vs recueil
Shared letters: celr. Private to "recel": -. Private to "recueil": iu.
"recel" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "recueil" · 7 letters · shape CVCVVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "recel" and "recueil" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "recel" or "recueil"?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "recel" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "recueil" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #303,504 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "recel" and "recueil" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "recel vs recèlent". 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 #303,504 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.