LabvsLosConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#18,610
“Lab” frequency rank
#469
“Los” frequency rank
19079
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Lab Los
Definition Enzymgemisch, das aus Kälbermägen gewonnen wird und zur Käseherstellung genutzt wird Schicksal, unbeeinflussbares Geschick

Where the eye mixes Lab and Los

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

3 ch
Lab
3 ch
Los

Visual trap between Lab and Los

A purely visual mix-up. Lab ([laːp]) and Los ([loːs]) 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 19079, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Lab is recorded at frequency rank #18,610, classified as anoun, pronounced [laːp]. Los is at rank #469, tagged as anoun, pronounced [loːs].

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 19079, this pair ranks #1,912,041 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Lab vs Los

Shared letters: l. Private to "Lab": ab. Private to "Los": os.

"Lab" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "Los" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Lab" for "Los" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([laːp] versus [loːs]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "Lab" vs "Los" - which ranks higher?
"Los" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #469 in our German list, against #18,610 for "Lab". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Lab" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Los" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,912,041 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Lab" and "Los" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Lab vs lame". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,912,041 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