Which to use
“ricin” is a noun and “rico” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #40,967
- “ricin” frequency rank
- #13,681
- “rico” frequency rank
- 54648
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ricin | rico |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Grande plante vivace arborescente de la famille des Euphorbiacées, à fleurs unisexuelles et sans corolle, extrêmement toxique, dont les semences fournissent une huile employée comme purgatif et comme lubrifiant. | Riche. |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set ricin and rico apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
ricin and rico form a confusable pair in the French index, two distinct headwords that are easily confused because they look alike, sound alike, or both. They differ by 1 letter(s) in length - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 54648, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
ricin is recorded at frequency rank #40,967, classified as anoun, pronounced \ʁi.sɛ̃\. rico is at rank #13,681, tagged as anadj, pronounced \ˈri.ko\.
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 54648, this pair ranks #132,615 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "ricin" and "rico" be used interchangeably?
Remembering ricin vs rico
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “ricin”; for an adjective, it's “rico”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “ricin” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable