Which to use
“sigle” and “sigma” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #24,390
- “sigle” frequency rank
- #31,736
- “sigma” frequency rank
- 56126
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | sigle | sigma |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Initiale servant d’abréviation, dans un manuscrit ancien, sur une pièce de monnaie, etc. | σ, ς, Σ, dix-huitième lettre et treizième consonne de l’alphabet grec. |
Where the eye mixes sigle and sigma
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. sigle and sigma follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses sigle with sigma
A purely visual mix-up. sigle (\siɡl\) and sigma (\siɡ.ma\) 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 56126, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
sigle is recorded at frequency rank #24,390, classified as anoun, pronounced \siɡl\. sigma is at rank #31,736, tagged as anoun, pronounced \siɡ.ma\.
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 56126, this pair ranks #123,100 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of sigle vs sigma
Shared letters: gis. Private to "sigle": el. Private to "sigma": am.
"sigle" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "sigma" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "sigle" and "sigma" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "sigle" or "sigma"?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "sigle" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "sigma" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #123,100 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "sigle" and "sigma" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "salma vs sigma". 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 #123,100 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.