delvsdevilWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: del is a abbrev, devil is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“del” is an abbrev and “devil” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#3,719
“del” frequency rank
#31,506
“devil” frequency rank
35225
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature del devil
Definition Bezeichnung für ∂, ein Symbol für die partielle Ableitung – es ist nicht mit dem kleinen Delta δ zu verwechseln der Teufel

Letter map: del vs devil

Shared letters muted; letters that set del and devil apart highlighted. Shared run: 3.

3 ch
del
5 ch
devil

Grammar separator: del vs devil

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: del is anabbrev and devilanoun. On the page they differ by 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 35225, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

del is recorded at frequency rank #3,719, classified as anabbrev. devil is at rank #31,506, tagged as anoun, pronounced [devl].

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 35225, this pair ranks #1,645,018 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of del vs devil

Shared letters: del. Private to "del": -. Private to "devil": iv.

"del" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "devil" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • devilddevil · deivl · devill · devli · devvil · dveil · edvil

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "del" and "devil" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "del" is an abbrev and "devil" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "del" or "devil"?
"del" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,719 in our German list, against #31,506 for "devil". 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 "del" and "devil".

  • Full dictionary entry for "del" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "devil" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,645,018 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "del" and "devil" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "devil vs devot". 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 #1,645,018 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