Which to use
“lance” and “Lanze” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #25,214
- “lance” frequency rank
- #22,413
- “Lanze” frequency rank
- 47627
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | lance | Lanze |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Waffe aus einem langen Stiel und einer Spitze aus Eisen | Waffe für den Nahkampf (als Stoßwaffe), aber auch im Fernkampf (als Wurfwaffe) wie ein Speer einsetzbar; lange Stange (mehrere Meter) mit einer Spitze aus besonders hartem Material |
Where the eye mixes lance and Lanze
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: lance vs Lanze
A purely visual mix-up. lance ([lɑ̃s]) and Lanze ([ˈlant͡sə]) 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 a single letter - c in “lance” becomes z in “Lanze”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 47627, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
lance is recorded at frequency rank #25,214, classified as anoun, pronounced [lɑ̃s]. Lanze is at rank #22,413, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈlant͡sə].
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 47627, this pair ranks #1,277,690 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of lance vs Lanze
Shared letters: aeln. Private to "lance": c. Private to "Lanze": z.
"lance" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "Lanze" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "lance" and "Lanze" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "lance" or "Lanze"?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "lance" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Lanze" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,277,690 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "lance" and "Lanze" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lame vs lance". 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 #1,277,690 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.