CO2vscordWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“CO2” and “cord” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#4,186
“CO2” frequency rank
#36,862
“cord” frequency rank
41048
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature CO2 cord
Definition chemische Summenformel von Kohlendioxid längliches aus etwas zusammengedrehtes Ding, das beispielsweise als Gürtel getragen wird

Where the eye mixes CO2 and cord

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

3 ch
CO2
4 ch
cord

Look-alike desk: CO2 vs cord

A purely visual mix-up. CO2 ([ˌt͡seːoˈt͡svaɪ̯]) and cord ([kɔː(r)d]) 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 41048, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

CO2 is recorded at frequency rank #4,186, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˌt͡seːoˈt͡svaɪ̯]. cord is at rank #36,862, tagged as anoun, pronounced [kɔː(r)d].

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 41048, this pair ranks #1,490,849 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of CO2 vs cord

Shared letters: co. Private to "CO2": -. Private to "cord": dr.

"CO2" · 2 letters · shape CV  ·  "cord" · 4 letters · shape CVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • cordccord · codr · cordd · corrd · crod · ocrd

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "CO2" and "cord" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˌt͡seːoˈt͡svaɪ̯] versus [kɔː(r)d]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "CO2" or "cord" show up more?
"CO2" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,186 in our German list, against #36,862 for "cord". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "CO2" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "cord" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,490,849 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "CO2" and "cord" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "carr vs cord". 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 #1,490,849 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