cl vs cm, What's the Difference?

Which to use

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

#10,252
“cl” frequency rank: #1,052
“cm” frequency rank: 11304
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	cl	cm
Definition	Zentiliter (= 0,01 l, 10⁻² l, ein hundertstel Liter)	Einheitensymbol für Zentimeter; 1 cm = 10⁻² m = 0,01 m = 10 mm

Letter map: cl vs cm

Shared letters muted; letters that set cl and cm apart highlighted. Shared run: 1.

2 ch

Corpus notes: cl and cm

cl and cm are indexed as a confusable German pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they differ by a single letter - l in “cl” becomes m in “cm”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 11304, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

cl is recorded at frequency rank #10,252, classified as anabbrev. cm is at rank #1,052, tagged as anabbrev.

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 11304, this pair ranks #1,970,580 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of cl vs cm

Shared letters: c. Private to "cl": l. Private to "cm": m.

"cl" · 2 letters · shape CC · "cm" · 2 letters · shape CC

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "cl" and "cm" mean the same thing in a sentence?

No. They differ by a single letter - l in “cl” becomes m in “cm”, but the dictionary glosses above give them different meanings, so swapping one for the other changes what the sentence says.

In ordinary German text, does "cl" or "cm" show up more?

"cm" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,052 in our German list, against #10,252 for "cl". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "cl" and "cm".

Full dictionary entry for "cl" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
Full dictionary entry for "cm" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
This pair ranks #1,970,580 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
"cl" and "cm" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "CCS vs cl". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,970,580 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.