seillevsselleWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#45,308
“seille” frequency rank
#9,741
“selle” frequency rank
55049
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature seille selle
Definition Bassine, munie d’oreilles dans lesquelles on passe une corde en guise d’anse et qui sert à transporter les liquides, en particulier, le mout tiré du pressoir. Tabouret, petit siège.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set seille and selle apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
seille
5 ch
selle

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. seille (\sɛj\) and selle (\sɛl\) 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 55049, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

seille is recorded at frequency rank #45,308, classified as anoun, pronounced \sɛj\. selle is at rank #9,741, tagged as anoun, pronounced \sɛl\.

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 55049, this pair ranks #129,987 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of seille vs selle

Shared letters: els. Private to "seille": i. Private to "selle": -.

"seille" · 6 letters · shape CVVCCV  ·  "selle" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • seilleesille · seile · seilel · selile · sielle · sseille
  • selleeslle · sele · selel · slele · sselle

Frequency comparison

seille#45,308
selle#9,741

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "seille" and "selle" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\sɛj\ versus \sɛl\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "seille" or "selle"?
"selle" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #9,741 in our French list, against #45,308 for "seille". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering seille vs selle

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 “seille” 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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list