Which to use
“union” and “unisson” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #858
- “union” frequency rank
- #27,278
- “unisson” frequency rank
- 28136
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | union | unisson |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 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. | Son unique chanté par deux ou plusieurs voix, joué par deux ou plusieurs instruments. |
Where the eye mixes union and unisson
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses union with unisson
A purely visual mix-up. union (\y.njɔ̃\) and unisson (\y.ni.sɔ̃\) 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 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 28136, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
union is recorded at frequency rank #858, classified as anoun, pronounced \y.njɔ̃\. unisson is at rank #27,278, tagged as anoun, pronounced \y.ni.sɔ̃\.
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 28136, this pair ranks #324,688 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of union vs unisson
Shared letters: inou. Private to "union": -. Private to "unisson": s.
"union" · 5 letters · shape VCVVC · "unisson" · 7 letters · shape VCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "union" for "unisson" ever safe?
In ordinary French text, does "union" or "unisson" show up more?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "union" and "unisson" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "union" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "unisson" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #324,688 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "union" and "unisson" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "unissant vs unisson". 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 #324,688 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.