Which to use
“vial” and “vis” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #49,425
- “vial” frequency rank
- #993
- “vis” frequency rank
- 50418
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | vial | vis |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Petite fiole, en particulier quand elle contient un produit à analyser (surtout utilisé pour la chromatographie). | Pièce mécanique formée d’un corps qui comporte un filet de forme hélicoïdale et une tête où une empreinte permet d’appliquer un couple ; il en résulte un double mouvement de rotation et de translation. En mécanique, elles sont souvent employées avec des écrous pour former des boulons. |
Where the eye mixes vial and vis
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between vial and vis
A purely visual mix-up. vial (\vjal\) and vis (\vis\) 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 50418, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
vial is recorded at frequency rank #49,425, classified as anoun, pronounced \vjal\. vis is at rank #993, tagged as anoun, pronounced \vis\.
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 50418, this pair ranks #162,813 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of vial vs vis
Shared letters: iv. Private to "vial": al. Private to "vis": s.
"vial" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "vis" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- vial ← ival · viall · vvial
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "vial" and "vis" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary French text, does "vial" or "vis" show up more?
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 "vial" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "vis" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #162,813 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "vial" and "vis" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "vial vs vigan". 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 #162,813 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.