reliquevsrelireWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: relique is a noun, relire is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

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 spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set relique and relire apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
relique
6 ch
relire

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

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

  • reliqueerlique · reilque · reliqeu · reliqque · reliuqe · rellique · relqiue · rleique
  • relireerlire · reilre · relirre · rellire · relrie · rleire · rrelire

Frequency comparison

relique#24,358
relire#9,731

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "relique" and "relire" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "relique" is a noun and "relire" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "relique" or "relire"?
"relire" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #9,731 in our French list, against #24,358 for "relique". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering relique vs relire

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “relique”; for a verb, it's “relire”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “relique” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list