Which to use
“sic” is an adverb and “sicav” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #11,132
- “sic” frequency rank
- #49,943
- “sicav” frequency rank
- 61075
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | sic | sicav |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Tel que cela a été dit ou écrit, sans modification, aussi étrange ou incorrect que cela paraisse. Il s’utilise le plus souvent en italique et entre crochets pour confirmer l’exactitude de la citation d’un texte, même dans le cas d’une erreur manifeste, d’une faute de langue ou de propos choquants. | Société qui a pour objectif de mettre en commun les risques et les bénéfices d’un investissement en valeurs mobilières (actions, obligations, etc.), titres de créances négociables, repos et autres instruments financiers autorisés soit par la règlementation soit par les statuts de la SICAV. |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set sic and sicav apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: sic is \sik\ while sicav is \si.kav\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “sic” sits inside “sicav”, and the parts of speech differ too (adverb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 61075, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
sic is recorded at frequency rank #11,132, classified as anadv, pronounced \sik\. sicav is at rank #49,943, tagged as anoun, pronounced \si.kav\.
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 61075, this pair ranks #94,201 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of sic vs sicav
Shared letters: cis. Private to "sic": -. Private to "sicav": av.
"sic" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "sicav" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- sicav ← iscav · sciav · siacv · sicavv · siccav · sicva · ssicav
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "sic" and "sicav" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "sic" or "sicav"?
Remembering sic vs sicav
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need an adverb, it's “sic”; for a noun, it's “sicav”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “sic” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable