deovsdonConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#17,556
“deo” frequency rank
#3,645
“don” frequency rank
21201
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature deo don
Definition ein Gott, eine Gottheit (geschlechtsneutral, allerdings ist die weibliche Wortform selten, die männliche – *deulo – gar nicht belegt) Spende, Gabe

Letter map: deo vs don

Shared letters muted; letters that set deo and don apart highlighted. Shared run: 2.

3 ch
deo
3 ch
don

Corpus notes: deo and don

deo and don 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 share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 21201, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

deo is recorded at frequency rank #17,556, classified as anoun, pronounced […]. don is at rank #3,645, tagged as anoun, pronounced [dɔ̃].

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 21201, this pair ranks #1,889,047 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of deo vs don

Shared letters: do. Private to "deo": e. Private to "don": n.

"deo" · 3 letters · shape CVV  ·  "don" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "deo" for "don" ever safe?
No. They share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, but the dictionary glosses above give them different meanings, so swapping one for the other changes what the sentence says.
Frequency check: "deo" vs "don" - which ranks higher?
"don" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,645 in our German list, against #17,556 for "deo". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

You've compared "deo" and "don". Here's where to go from here.

  • Full dictionary entry for "deo" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "don" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,889,047 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "deo" and "don" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "deo vs puzzles". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,889,047 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