Which to use
“tétanos” and “tétons” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #38,086
- “tétanos” frequency rank
- #22,128
- “tétons” frequency rank
- 60214
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | tétanos | tétons |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Maladie toxi-infectieuse, tellurique, de l’homme et des animaux, généralement mortelle, caractérisée par la contraction convulsive, la rigidité d’un plus ou moins grand nombre de muscles (tétanisation) puis par l’opisthotonos, due à la toxine du bacille du tétanos lorsque ses spores pénètrent dans une blessure. | Pluriel de téton. |
Where the eye mixes tétanos and tétons
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. tétanos runs 7 letters (CVCVCVC) against tétons's 6 (CVCVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses tétanos with tétons
A purely visual mix-up. tétanos (\te.ta.nɔs\) and tétons (\te.tɔ̃\) 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 60214, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
tétanos is recorded at frequency rank #38,086, classified as anoun, pronounced \te.ta.nɔs\. tétons is at rank #22,128, tagged as anoun, pronounced \te.tɔ̃\.
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 60214, this pair ranks #98,827 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of tétanos vs tétons
Shared letters: nosté. Private to "tétanos": a. Private to "tétons": -.
"tétanos" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC · "tétons" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "tétanos" and "tétons" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "tétanos" vs "tétons" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "tétanos" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "tétons" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #98,827 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "tétanos" and "tétons" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "technos vs tétanos". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #98,827 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.