Which to use
“terms” and “têtes” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #47,644
- “terms” frequency rank
- #3,048
- “têtes” frequency rank
- 50692
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | terms | têtes |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de term. | Pluriel de tête. |
Where the eye mixes terms and têtes
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. terms (CVCCC) and têtes (CVCVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Visual trap between terms and têtes
A purely visual mix-up. terms ([tɝmz]) and têtes (\tɛːt\) 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 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 50692, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
terms is recorded at frequency rank #47,644, classified as anoun, pronounced [tɝmz]. têtes is at rank #3,048, tagged as anoun, pronounced \tɛːt\.
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 50692, this pair ranks #160,678 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of terms vs têtes
Shared letters: est. Private to "terms": mr. Private to "têtes": ê.
"terms" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC · "têtes" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- terms ← etrms · temrs · termms · termss · terrms · tersm · trems · tterms
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "terms" and "têtes" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary French text, does "terms" or "têtes" show up more?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "terms" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "têtes" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #160,678 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "terms" and "têtes" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "terms vs thermos". 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 #160,678 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.