vigilesvsVirgileConfusable pair

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

Which to use

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

#29,593
“vigiles” frequency rank
#23,063
“Virgile” frequency rank
52656
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature vigiles Virgile
Definition Pluriel de vigile. Publius Vergilius Maro (aussi écrit Virgilius), écrivain latin.

Where the eye mixes vigiles and Virgile

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. vigiles (CVCVCVC) and Virgile (CVCCVCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

7 ch
vigiles
7 ch
Virgile

Why the eye confuses vigiles with Virgile

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: vigiles is \vi.ʒil\ while Virgile is \viʁ.ʒil\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 5 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs name), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 52656, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

vigiles is recorded at frequency rank #29,593, classified as anoun, pronounced \vi.ʒil\. Virgile is at rank #23,063, tagged as aname, pronounced \viʁ.ʒil\.

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 52656, this pair ranks #146,160 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of vigiles vs Virgile

Shared letters: egilv. Private to "vigiles": s. Private to "Virgile": r.

"vigiles" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC  ·  "Virgile" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • vigilesivgiles · vgiiles · viggiles · vigiels · vigiless · vigilles · vigilse · viglies
  • Virgileivrgile · vigrile · virggile · virgiel · virgille · virglie · virigle · virrgile

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "vigiles" and "Virgile" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "vigiles" is a noun and "Virgile" a name, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "vigiles" or "Virgile"?
"Virgile" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #23,063 in our French list, against #29,593 for "vigiles". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "vigiles" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Virgile" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #146,160 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "vigiles" and "Virgile" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "vigiles vs virgules". 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 #146,160 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