sellesvssiglesWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#21,466
“selles” frequency rank
#43,145
“sigles” frequency rank
64611
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature selles sigles
Definition Excréments humains, formés des résidus de la digestion. Pluriel de sigle.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set selles and sigles apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
selles
6 ch
sigles

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. selles (\sɛl\) and sigles (\siɡl\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 64611, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

selles is recorded at frequency rank #21,466, classified as anoun, pronounced \sɛl\. sigles is at rank #43,145, tagged as anoun, pronounced \siɡl\.

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 64611, this pair ranks #76,219 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of selles vs sigles

Shared letters: els. Private to "selles": -. Private to "sigles": gi.

"selles" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "sigles" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • selleseslles · selels · seles · selless · sellse · sleles · sselles
  • siglesisgles · sgiles · sigels · siggles · sigless · siglles · siglse · silges

Frequency comparison

selles#21,466
sigles#43,145

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "selles" and "sigles" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\sɛl\ versus \siɡl\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "selles" or "sigles"?
"selles" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #21,466 in our French list, against #43,145 for "sigles". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering selles vs sigles

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 “selles” 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