Which to use
“Organ” and “Orgel” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #8,915
- “Organ” frequency rank
- #7,217
- “Orgel” frequency rank
- 16132
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Organ | Orgel |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | ein Glied, ein Teil in einem größeren (meist technischen oder biologischen) Zusammenhang mit einer bestimmten Gestalt und Funktion | ein großes, häufig in Kirchen zu findendes, Musikinstrument mit Manualen und einer Klaviatur für die Füße |
Where the eye mixes Organ and Orgel
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. Organ and Orgel follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Visual trap between Organ and Orgel
A purely visual mix-up. Organ ([ɔʁˈɡaːn]) and Orgel ([ˈɔʁɡl̩]) 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 16132, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Organ is recorded at frequency rank #8,915, classified as anoun, pronounced [ɔʁˈɡaːn]. Orgel is at rank #7,217, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈɔʁɡl̩].
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 16132, this pair ranks #1,938,318 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of Organ vs Orgel
Shared letters: gor. Private to "Organ": an. Private to "Orgel": el.
"Organ" · 5 letters · shape VCCVC · "Orgel" · 5 letters · shape VCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "Organ" and "Orgel" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "Organ" or "Orgel" show up more?
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 "Organ" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Orgel" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,938,318 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Organ" and "Orgel" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Organ vs orgeln". 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 #1,938,318 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.