lorevsLyraWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#26,091
“lore” frequency rank
#45,436
“Lyra” frequency rank
71527
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature lore Lyra
Definition Überlieferung der Kithara ähnliches altgriechisches Zupfinstrument mit fünf bis sieben Saiten

Letter map: lore vs Lyra

Shared letters muted; letters that set lore and Lyra apart highlighted. Shared run: 2.

4 ch
lore
4 ch
Lyra

Spelling & dictionary notes on lore vs Lyra

lore and Lyra are indexed as a confusable German pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 71527, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

lore is recorded at frequency rank #26,091, classified as anoun, pronounced […]. Lyra is at rank #45,436, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈlyːʁa].

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 71527, this pair ranks #414,236 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of lore vs Lyra

Shared letters: lr. Private to "lore": eo. Private to "Lyra": ay.

"lore" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "Lyra" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • lorellore · loer · lorre · lroe · olre
  • Lyrallyra · lrya · lyar · lyrra · lyyra · ylra

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "lore" for "Lyra" ever safe?
No. They share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, but the dictionary glosses above give them different meanings, so swapping one for the other changes what the sentence says.
Frequency check: "lore" vs "Lyra" - which ranks higher?
"lore" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #26,091 in our German list, against #45,436 for "Lyra". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "lore" and "Lyra".

  • Full dictionary entry for "lore" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Lyra" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #414,236 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "lore" and "Lyra" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Lepra vs Lyra". 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 #414,236 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