LimesvslinesWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#36,483
“Limes” frequency rank
#21,343
“lines” frequency rank
57826
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Limes lines
Definition Grenzwall des Römischen Reichs Plural des Substantivs line

Where the eye mixes Limes and lines

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

5 ch
Limes
5 ch
lines

Why the eye confuses Limes with lines

A purely visual mix-up. Limes ([ˈliːmɛs]) and lines ([laɪnz]) 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 - m in “Limes” becomes n in “lines”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 57826, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Limes is recorded at frequency rank #36,483, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈliːmɛs]. lines is at rank #21,343, tagged as anoun, pronounced [laɪnz].

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 57826, this pair ranks #886,292 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Limes vs lines

Shared letters: eils. Private to "Limes": m. Private to "lines": n.

"Limes" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "lines" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Limesilmes · liems · limess · limmes · limse · llimes · lmies
  • linesilnes · liens · liness · linnes · llines · lnies

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Limes" and "lines" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈliːmɛs] versus [laɪnz]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Limes" or "lines"?
"lines" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #21,343 in our German list, against #36,483 for "Limes". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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 "Limes" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "lines" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #886,292 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Limes" and "lines" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lame vs Limes". 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 #886,292 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