arkvsarmaConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#36,793
“ark” frequency rank
#48,716
“arma” frequency rank
85509
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ark arma
Definition eine große Kiste mit einem flachen Deckel Waffe; Mittel, das dazu geeignet ist, Lebewesen in ihrer Handlungsfähigkeit zu beeinträchtigen oder handlungsunfähig zu machen, physisch oder psychisch zu verletzen oder zu töten

Where the eye mixes ark and arma

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. ark runs 3 letters (VCC) against arma's 4 (VCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

3 ch
ark
4 ch
arma

Visual trap between ark and arma

A purely visual mix-up. ark ([ɑːk]) and arma ([ˈarma]) 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 85509, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ark is recorded at frequency rank #36,793, classified as anoun, pronounced [ɑːk]. arma is at rank #48,716, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈarma].

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 85509, this pair ranks #107,209 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of ark vs arma

Shared letters: ar. Private to "ark": k. Private to "arma": m.

"ark" · 3 letters · shape VCC  ·  "arma" · 4 letters · shape VCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • arma ← aram · armma · arrma

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "ark" for "arma" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ɑːk] versus [ˈarma]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "ark" vs "arma" - which ranks higher?
"ark" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #36,793 in our German list, against #48,716 for "arma". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "ark" and "arma" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "ark" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "arma" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #107,209 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "ark" and "arma" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "arma vs Arosa". 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 #107,209 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