ICDvsIMOTell them apart

Which to use

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

#36,988
“ICD” frequency rank
#21,299
“IMO” frequency rank
58287
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ICD IMO
Definition von der WHO herausgegebene „Internationale statistische Klassifikation der Krankheiten und verwandter Gesundheitsprobleme“ Institut für Marktökologie (Sitz in der Schweiz)

Where the eye mixes ICD and IMO

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.

3 ch
ICD
3 ch
IMO

Visual trap between ICD and IMO

A purely visual mix-up. ICD ([iːtseːˈdeː]) and IMO ([ˌiːɛmˈʔoː]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 58287, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ICD is recorded at frequency rank #36,988, classified as anabbrev, pronounced [iːtseːˈdeː]. IMO is at rank #21,299, tagged as anabbrev, pronounced [ˌiːɛmˈʔoː].

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 58287, this pair ranks #868,626 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of ICD vs IMO

Shared letters: i. Private to "ICD": cd. Private to "IMO": mo.

"ICD" · 3 letters · shape VCC  ·  "IMO" · 3 letters · shape VCV

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "ICD" for "IMO" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([iːtseːˈdeː] versus [ˌiːɛmˈʔoː]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "ICD" vs "IMO" - which ranks higher?
"IMO" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #21,299 in our German list, against #36,988 for "ICD". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "ICD" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "IMO" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #868,626 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "ICD" and "IMO" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ICD vs IMs". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #868,626 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