Which to use
“rôle” and “rotule” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #606
- “rôle” frequency rank
- #39,517
- “rotule” frequency rank
- 40123
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | rôle | rotule |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Rouleau de papier, de parchemin, sur lequel on écrivait des actes, des titres. | Petit os plat, triangulaire, à angles arrondis, placé en avant du genou, à l’endroit où le fémur s’articule avec le tibia. |
Where the eye mixes rôle and rotule
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses rôle with rotule
A purely visual mix-up. rôle (\ʁol\) and rotule (\ʁɔ.tyl\) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 40123, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
rôle is recorded at frequency rank #606, classified as anoun, pronounced \ʁol\. rotule is at rank #39,517, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ʁɔ.tyl\.
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 40123, this pair ranks #242,867 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of rôle vs rotule
Shared letters: elr. Private to "rôle": ô. Private to "rotule": otu.
"rôle" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "rotule" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- rotule ← ortule · rotlue · rottule · rotuel · rotulle · routle · rrotule · rtoule
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "rôle" and "rotule" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "rôle" vs "rotule" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "rôle" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "rotule" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #242,867 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "rôle" and "rotule" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "rotule vs rouble". 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 #242,867 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.