Which to use
“viol” and “vison” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #4,030
- “viol” frequency rank
- #36,204
- “vison” frequency rank
- 40234
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | viol | vison |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Violence que l’on fait à une personne sans consentement, par la force ou la ruse, consistant en une pénétration sexuelle, vaginale, anale ou orale. | Espèce de petit mammifère de la famille des mustélidés, dont la fourrure est très estimée. |
Where the eye mixes viol and vison
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: viol vs vison
A purely visual mix-up. viol (\vjɔl\) and vison (\vi.zɔ̃\) 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 40234, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
viol is recorded at frequency rank #4,030, classified as anoun, pronounced \vjɔl\. vison is at rank #36,204, tagged as anoun, pronounced \vi.zɔ̃\.
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 40234, this pair ranks #242,030 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of viol vs vison
Shared letters: iov. Private to "viol": l. Private to "vison": ns.
"viol" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "vison" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "viol" for "vison" ever safe?
Frequency check: "viol" vs "vison" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "viol" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "vison" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #242,030 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "viol" and "vison" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "vigan vs vison". 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 #242,030 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.