régnervsrésignerWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#13,252
“régner” frequency rank
#29,134
“résigner” frequency rank
42386
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature régner résigner
Definition Exercer le pouvoir souverain dans un État monarchique ; se dit des princes souverains, même quand ils ne portent pas le titre de roi. Se démettre, remettre. Il s’entendait ordinairement d’un bénéfice.

Where the eye mixes régner and résigner

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. régner runs 6 letters (CVCCVC) against résigner's 8 (CVCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
régner
8 ch
résigner

Visual trap between régner and résigner

A purely visual mix-up. régner (\ʁe.ɲe\) and résigner (\ʁe.zi.ɲe\) 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 42386, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

régner is recorded at frequency rank #13,252, classified as averb, pronounced \ʁe.ɲe\. résigner is at rank #29,134, tagged as averb, pronounced \ʁe.zi.ɲe\.

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 42386, this pair ranks #226,022 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of régner vs résigner

Shared letters: egnré. Private to "régner": -. Private to "résigner": is.

"régner" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "résigner" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "régner" and "résigner" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\ʁe.ɲe\ versus \ʁe.zi.ɲe\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "régner" vs "résigner" - which ranks higher?
"régner" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #13,252 in our French list, against #29,134 for "résigner". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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 "régner" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "résigner" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #226,022 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "régner" and "résigner" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "résigner vs résines". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #226,022 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