IconvsIconsWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#23,993
“Icon” frequency rank
#47,495
“Icons” frequency rank
71488
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Icon Icons
Definition kleine Grafik für Programme oder Hyperlinks Genitiv Singular des Substantivs Icon

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set Icon and Icons apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
Icon
5 ch
Icons

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. Icon ([ˈaɪ̯kn̩]) and Icons ([ˈaɪ̯kn̩s]) 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 extra letter(s) - “Icon” sits inside “Icons”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 71488, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Icon is recorded at frequency rank #23,993, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈaɪ̯kn̩]. Icons is at rank #47,495, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈaɪ̯kn̩s].

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 71488, this pair ranks #415,308 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of Icon vs Icons

Shared letters: cino. Private to "Icon": -. Private to "Icons": s.

"Icon" · 4 letters · shape VCVC  ·  "Icons" · 5 letters · shape VCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Iconcion · iccon · icno · iconn · iocn
  • Iconsiccons · icnos · iconns · iconss · icosn · iocns

Frequency comparison

Icon#23,993
Icons#47,495

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Icon" and "Icons" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈaɪ̯kn̩] versus [ˈaɪ̯kn̩s]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Icon" or "Icons"?
"Icon" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #23,993 in our German list, against #47,495 for "Icons". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering Icon vs Icons

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “Icon” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list