Which to use
“régule” and “rigole” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #34,734
- “régule” frequency rank
- #7,234
- “rigole” frequency rank
- 41968
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | régule | rigole |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Nom donné à différents alliages d’antimoine, d’étain ou de plomb. | Petit canal creusé dans la terre ou dans la pierre, pour faire couler l’eau à travers un jardin, un pré, etc. |
Where the eye mixes régule and rigole
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses régule with rigole
A purely visual mix-up. régule (\ʁe.ɡyl\) and rigole (\ʁi.ɡɔl\) 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 41968, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
régule is recorded at frequency rank #34,734, classified as anoun, pronounced \ʁe.ɡyl\. rigole is at rank #7,234, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ʁi.ɡɔl\.
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 41968, this pair ranks #229,182 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of régule vs rigole
Shared letters: eglr. Private to "régule": ué. Private to "rigole": io.
"régule" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV · "rigole" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- rigole ← irgole · rgiole · riggole · rigloe · rigoel · rigolle · riogle · rrigole
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "régule" for "rigole" ever safe?
In ordinary French text, does "régule" or "rigole" show up more?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "régule" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "rigole" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #229,182 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "régule" and "rigole" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "régule vs remué". 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 #229,182 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.