LaborvsLauerWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#5,977
“Labor” frequency rank
#19,632
“Lauer” frequency rank
25609
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Labor Lauer
Definition Räumlichkeit oder Einrichtung, in der wissenschaftliche, technische und medizinische Untersuchungen, Analysen und Versuche durchgeführt werden Hinterhalt

Where the eye mixes Labor and Lauer

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

5 ch
Labor
5 ch
Lauer

Look-alike desk: Labor vs Lauer

A purely visual mix-up. Labor ([laˈboːɐ̯]) and Lauer ([ˈlaʊ̯ɐ]) 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 25609, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Labor is recorded at frequency rank #5,977, classified as anoun, pronounced [laˈboːɐ̯]. Lauer is at rank #19,632, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈlaʊ̯ɐ].

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 25609, this pair ranks #1,830,690 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Labor vs Lauer

Shared letters: alr. Private to "Labor": bo. Private to "Lauer": eu.

"Labor" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "Lauer" · 5 letters · shape CVVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Laboralbor · labbor · laborr · labro · laobr · lbaor · llabor
  • Laueraluer · laeur · lauerr · laure · llauer · luaer

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Labor" and "Lauer" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([laˈboːɐ̯] versus [ˈlaʊ̯ɐ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "Labor" or "Lauer" show up more?
"Labor" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,977 in our German list, against #19,632 for "Lauer". 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 "Labor" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Lauer" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,830,690 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Labor" and "Lauer" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Lasern vs Lauer". 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 #1,830,690 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