Which to use
“relique” is a noun and “relire” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #24,358
- “relique” frequency rank
- #9,731
- “relire” frequency rank
- 34089
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | relique | relire |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Ce qui reste d’un saint, d’un martyr, voire de Jésus-Christ lui-même, après sa mort. | Lire de nouveau. |
Where the eye mixes relique and relire
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. relique runs 7 letters (CVCVCVV) against relire's 6 (CVCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses relique with relire
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: relique is \ʁə.lik\ while relire is \ʁə.liʁ\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 34089, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
relique is recorded at frequency rank #24,358, classified as anoun, pronounced \ʁə.lik\. relire is at rank #9,731, tagged as averb, pronounced \ʁə.liʁ\.
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 34089, this pair ranks #286,226 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of relique vs relire
Shared letters: eilr. Private to "relique": qu. Private to "relire": -.
"relique" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVV · "relire" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "relique" for "relire" ever safe?
Frequency check: "relique" vs "relire" - which ranks higher?
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 "relique" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "relire" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #286,226 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "relique" and "relire" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "reliquat vs relique". 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 #286,226 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.