Which to use
“uni” and “union” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #2,303
- “uni” frequency rank
- #858
- “union” frequency rank
- 3161
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | uni | union |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Université. | Opérateur de la théorie des ensembles, qui regroupe au sein d'un même ensemble les éléments de deux ensembles. Désigne également l'opération (le fait d'unir deux ensembles) ainsi que le résultat de cette opération, c'est-à-dire l'ensemble contenant tous les éléments appartenant à deux autres ensembles. |
Where the eye mixes uni and union
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between uni and union
A purely visual mix-up. uni (\y.ni\) and union (\y.njɔ̃\) 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 2 extra letter(s) - “uni” sits inside “union”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 3161, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
uni is recorded at frequency rank #2,303, classified as anoun, pronounced \y.ni\. union is at rank #858, tagged as anoun, pronounced \y.njɔ̃\.
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 3161, this pair ranks #434,642 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of uni vs union
Shared letters: inu. Private to "uni": -. Private to "union": o.
"uni" · 3 letters · shape VCV · "union" · 5 letters · shape VCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- union ← nuion · uinon · unino · unionn · unnion · unoin
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "uni" for "union" ever safe?
In ordinary French text, does "uni" or "union" show up more?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "uni" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "union" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #434,642 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "uni" and "union" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Ubu vs uni". 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 #434,642 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.