Which to use
“requiem” and “requin” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #29,111
- “requiem” frequency rank
- #9,907
- “requin” frequency rank
- 39018
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | requiem | requin |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Prière que l’Église fait pour les morts. | Espèce de poisson de mer prédateur de la classe des chondrichthyens (Chondrichthyens), à la silhouette fuselée, hydrodynamique, ayant plusieurs rangées de dents tranchantes à chacune des 2 mâchoires, une nageoire dorsale, deux pectorales, et une nageoire caudale hétérocerque (asymétrique), ayant cinq à sept fentes branchiales sur le côté, et une peau rugueuse (denticules dermiques). |
Where the eye mixes requiem and requin
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. requiem runs 7 letters (CVCVVVC) against requin's 6 (CVCVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses requiem with requin
A purely visual mix-up. requiem (\ʁe.kɥi.jɛm\) and requin (\ʁə.kɛ̃\) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 39018, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
requiem is recorded at frequency rank #29,111, classified as anoun, pronounced \ʁe.kɥi.jɛm\. requin is at rank #9,907, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ʁə.kɛ̃\.
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 39018, this pair ranks #251,096 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of requiem vs requin
Shared letters: eiqru. Private to "requiem": m. Private to "requin": n.
"requiem" · 7 letters · shape CVCVVVC · "requin" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "requiem" and "requin" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "requiem" or "requin"?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "requiem" and "requin" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "requiem" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "requin" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #251,096 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "requiem" and "requin" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "réduis vs requin". 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 #251,096 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.