arcvsarcheConfusable pair

Which to use

“arc” and “arche” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#23,421
“arc” frequency rank
#15,816
“arche” frequency rank
39237
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature arc arche
Definition der Bogen Bogen

Where the eye mixes arc and arche

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

3 ch
arc
5 ch
arche

Look-alike desk: arc vs arche

A purely visual mix-up. arc ([aʁk]) and arche ([aʁʃ]) 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 extra letter(s) - “arc” sits inside “arche”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 39237, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

arc is recorded at frequency rank #23,421, classified as anoun, pronounced [aʁk]. arche is at rank #15,816, tagged as anoun, pronounced [aʁʃ].

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 39237, this pair ranks #1,542,291 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of arc vs arche

Shared letters: acr. Private to "arc": -. Private to "arche": eh.

"arc" · 3 letters · shape VCC  ·  "arche" · 5 letters · shape VCCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • archeacrhe · arcche · arceh · archhe · arhce · arrche

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "arc" and "arche" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([aʁk] versus [aʁʃ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "arc" or "arche"?
"arche" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #15,816 in our German list, against #23,421 for "arc". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "arc" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "arche" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,542,291 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "arc" and "arche" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "arc vs AUD". 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 #1,542,291 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list