vigilevsVirgilWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: vigile is a noun, Virgil is a name, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“vigile” is a noun and “Virgil” is a name - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#20,888
“vigile” frequency rank
#31,779
“Virgil” frequency rank
52667
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature vigile Virgil
Definition Personne (homme ou femme) chargée d’une fonction de surveillance, de sécurité, le plus souvent dans des locaux commerciaux, industriels (pour une femme, on dira aussi femme vigile). Prénom masculin.

Letter map: vigile vs Virgil

Shared letters muted; letters that set vigile and Virgil apart highlighted. Shared run: 5. vigile (CVCVCV) and Virgil (CVCCVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

6 ch
vigile
6 ch
Virgil

Grammar separator: vigile vs Virgil

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: vigile is anoun and Virgilaname. On the page they share most of their letters but differ in 4 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 52667, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

vigile is recorded at frequency rank #20,888, classified as anoun, pronounced \vi.ʒil\. Virgil is at rank #31,779, tagged as aname.

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 52667, this pair ranks #146,092 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of vigile vs Virgil

Shared letters: gilv. Private to "vigile": e. Private to "Virgil": r.

"vigile" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV  ·  "Virgil" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • vigileivgile · vgiile · viggile · vigiel · vigille · viglie · viigle · vvigile
  • Virgilivrgil · vigril · virggil · virgill · virgli · virigl · virrgil · vrigil

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "vigile" and "Virgil" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "vigile" is a noun and "Virgil" a name, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "vigile" vs "Virgil" - which ranks higher?
"vigile" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #20,888 in our French list, against #31,779 for "Virgil". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "vigile" and "Virgil".

  • Full dictionary entry for "vigile" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Virgil" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #146,092 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "vigile" and "Virgil" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "vigie vs Virgil". 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 #146,092 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