Which to use
“bic” and “bois” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #49,525
- “bic” frequency rank
- #27,226
- “bois” frequency rank
- 76751
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | bic | bois |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Kugelschreiber | Baumaterial, das man aus Bäumen gewinnt: Holz |
Where the eye mixes bic and bois
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. bic runs 3 letters (CVC) against bois's 4 (CVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: bic vs bois
A purely visual mix-up. bic ([bik]) and bois ([bwa]) 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 76751, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
bic is recorded at frequency rank #49,525, classified as anoun, pronounced [bik]. bois is at rank #27,226, tagged as anoun, pronounced [bwa].
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 76751, this pair ranks #276,591 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of bic vs bois
Shared letters: bi. Private to "bic": c. Private to "bois": os.
"bic" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "bois" · 4 letters · shape CVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- bois ← bbois · boiss · bosi · obis
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "bic" for "bois" ever safe?
Frequency check: "bic" vs "bois" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "bic" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "bois" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #276,591 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "bic" and "bois" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "bic vs Bims". 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 #276,591 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.