retiravsrôtirWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#23,349
“retira” frequency rank
#49,346
“rôtir” frequency rank
72695
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature retira rôtir
Definition Troisième personne du singulier du passé simple du verbe retirer. Faire cuire de la viande à un feu vif, de manière que le dessus soit croustillant et que l’intérieur reste tendre.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set retira and rôtir apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
retira
5 ch
rôtir

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. retira (\ʁə.ti.ʁa\) and rôtir (\ʁo.tiʁ\) 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 72695, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

retira is recorded at frequency rank #23,349, classified as averb, pronounced \ʁə.ti.ʁa\. rôtir is at rank #49,346, tagged as averb, pronounced \ʁo.tiʁ\.

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 72695, this pair ranks #43,091 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of retira vs rôtir

Shared letters: irt. Private to "retira": ae. Private to "rôtir": ô.

"retira" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV  ·  "rôtir" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • retiraertira · reitra · retiar · retirra · retria · rettira · rretira · rteira

Frequency comparison

retira#23,349
rôtir#49,346

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "retira" and "rôtir" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\ʁə.ti.ʁa\ versus \ʁo.tiʁ\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "retira" or "rôtir"?
"retira" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #23,349 in our French list, against #49,346 for "rôtir". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering retira vs rôtir

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “retira” 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