IslamvsisleWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#2,207
“Islam” frequency rank
#41,260
“isle” frequency rank
43467
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Islam isle
Definition monotheistische Religion, die im frühen 7. Jahrhundert in Arabien durch den Mekkaner Mohammed gestiftet wurde. die Insel oder kleine Insel

Where the eye mixes Islam and isle

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. Islam runs 5 letters (VCCVC) against isle's 4 (VCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

5 ch
Islam
4 ch
isle

Look-alike desk: Islam vs isle

A purely visual mix-up. Islam ([ɪsˈlaːm]) and isle ([aɪl]) 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 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 43467, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Islam is recorded at frequency rank #2,207, classified as anoun, pronounced [ɪsˈlaːm]. isle is at rank #41,260, tagged as anoun, pronounced [aɪl].

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 43467, this pair ranks #1,417,158 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Islam vs isle

Shared letters: ils. Private to "Islam": am. Private to "isle": e.

"Islam" · 5 letters · shape VCCVC  ·  "isle" · 4 letters · shape VCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Islam ← ilsam · isalm · islamm · isllam · islma · isslam · silam
  • isle ← isel · islle · issle · sile

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Islam" and "isle" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ɪsˈlaːm] versus [aɪl]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "Islam" vs "isle" - which ranks higher?
"Islam" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,207 in our German list, against #41,260 for "isle". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "Islam" and "isle" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Islam" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "isle" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,417,158 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Islam" and "isle" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ile vs isle". 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 #1,417,158 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