Which to use
“région” and “religion” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #451
- “région” frequency rank
- #1,189
- “religion” frequency rank
- 1640
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | région | religion |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Vaste territoire ; étendue de pays. | Système de représentation du monde et de croyances fondé sur la foi, et consolidé par l’accomplissement de rites dans le cadre d’un culte rendu à une ou plusieurs puissances, souvent célestes. |
Where the eye mixes région and religion
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. région runs 6 letters (CVCVVC) against religion's 8 (CVCVCVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: région vs religion
A purely visual mix-up. région (\ʁe.ʒjɔ̃\) and religion (\ʁə.li.ʒjɔ̃\) 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 1640, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
région is recorded at frequency rank #451, classified as anoun, pronounced \ʁe.ʒjɔ̃\. religion is at rank #1,189, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ʁə.li.ʒjɔ̃\.
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 1640, this pair ranks #437,662 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of région vs religion
Shared letters: ginor. Private to "région": é. Private to "religion": el.
"région" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC · "religion" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- religion ← erligion · reilgion · relgiion · religgion · religino · religionn · religoin · reliigon
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "région" for "religion" ever safe?
Which is more common, "région" or "religion"?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "région" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "religion" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #437,662 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "région" and "religion" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Reggio vs région". 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 #437,662 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.