Which to use
“cos” is an abbrev and “cross” is an adverb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #29,065
- “cos” frequency rank
- #9,698
- “cross” frequency rank
- 38763
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | cos | cross |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Kosinus | diagonal in das gegnerische Feld |
Letter map: cos vs cross
Shared letters muted; letters that set cos and cross apart highlighted. Shared run: 3.
Part-of-speech tell for cos / cross
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: cos is anabbrev and crossanadverb. On the page they differ by 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 38763, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
cos is recorded at frequency rank #29,065, classified as anabbrev. cross is at rank #9,698, tagged as anadv, pronounced [kʁɔs].
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 38763, this pair ranks #1,555,259 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of cos vs cross
Shared letters: cos. Private to "cos": -. Private to "cross": r.
"cos" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "cross" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- cross ← ccross · corss · cros · croß · crross · crsos · rcoss
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "cos" and "cross" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "cos" vs "cross" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
You've compared "cos" and "cross". Here's where to go from here.
- Full dictionary entry for "cos" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "cross" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,555,259 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "cos" and "cross" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "CCS vs cos". 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 #1,555,259 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.