tomesvstortsWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#11,493
“tomes” frequency rank
#19,702
“torts” frequency rank
31195
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature tomes torts
Definition Pluriel de tome. Pluriel de tort.

Where the eye mixes tomes and torts

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

5 ch
tomes
5 ch
torts

Look-alike desk: tomes vs torts

A purely visual mix-up. tomes (\tɔm\) and torts (\tɔʁ\) 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 31195, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

tomes is recorded at frequency rank #11,493, classified as anoun, pronounced \tɔm\. torts is at rank #19,702, tagged as anoun, pronounced \tɔʁ\.

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 31195, this pair ranks #305,372 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of tomes vs torts

Shared letters: ost. Private to "tomes": em. Private to "torts": r.

"tomes" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "torts" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • tomesotmes · tmoes · toems · tomess · tommes · tomse · ttomes
  • tortsotrts · torrts · torst · tortss · tortts · totrs · trots · ttorts

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "tomes" for "torts" ever safe?
No. They are said differently (\tɔm\ versus \tɔʁ\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "tomes" or "torts"?
"tomes" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #11,493 in our French list, against #19,702 for "torts". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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 "tomes" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "torts" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #305,372 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "tomes" and "torts" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "tories vs torts". 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 #305,372 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list