segmentsvssermentTell them apart

Which to use

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

#13,260
“segments” frequency rank
#6,239
“serment” frequency rank
19499
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature segments serment
Definition Pluriel de segment. Affirmation ou promesse faite en attestant Dieu, un être ou un objet sacré.

Where the eye mixes segments and serment

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.

8 ch
segments
7 ch
serment

Visual trap between segments and serment

A purely visual mix-up. segments (\sɛɡ.mɑ̃\) and serment (\sɛʁ.mɑ̃\) 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 19499, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

segments is recorded at frequency rank #13,260, classified as anoun, pronounced \sɛɡ.mɑ̃\. serment is at rank #6,239, tagged as anoun, pronounced \sɛʁ.mɑ̃\.

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 19499, this pair ranks #372,973 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of segments vs serment

Shared letters: emnst. Private to "segments": g. Private to "serment": r.

"segments" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCCC  ·  "serment" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • segmentsesgments · segemnts · seggments · segmennts · segmenst · segmentss · segmentts · segmetns
  • sermentesrment · semrent · seremnt · sermennt · sermentt · sermetn · sermment · sermnet

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "segments" and "serment" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\sɛɡ.mɑ̃\ versus \sɛʁ.mɑ̃\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "segments" vs "serment" - which ranks higher?
"serment" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,239 in our French list, against #13,260 for "segments". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "segments" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "serment" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #372,973 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "segments" and "serment" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "segments vs sergents". 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 #372,973 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list