Which to use
“séance” and “semence” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #1,789
- “séance” frequency rank
- #24,029
- “semence” frequency rank
- 25818
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | séance | semence |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Droit de prendre place dans une compagnie. | Élément originaire d’un être. |
Where the eye mixes séance and semence
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. séance runs 6 letters (CVVCCV) against semence's 7 (CVCVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses séance with semence
A purely visual mix-up. séance (\se.ɑ̃s\) and semence (\sə.mɑ̃s\) 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 25818, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
séance is recorded at frequency rank #1,789, classified as anoun, pronounced \se.ɑ̃s\. semence is at rank #24,029, tagged as anoun, pronounced \sə.mɑ̃s\.
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 25818, this pair ranks #338,690 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of séance vs semence
Shared letters: cens. Private to "séance": aé. Private to "semence": m.
"séance" · 6 letters · shape CVVCCV · "semence" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- semence ← esmence · seemnce · semecne · semencce · semenec · semennce · semmence · semnece
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "séance" for "semence" ever safe?
In ordinary French text, does "séance" or "semence" show up more?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "séance" and "semence" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "séance" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "semence" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #338,690 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "séance" and "semence" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "semée vs semence". 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 #338,690 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.