PikvsPilzConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#42,047
“Pik” frequency rank
#9,962
“Pilz” frequency rank
52009
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Pik Pilz
Definition Farbe im französischen Kartenblatt mit einem schwarzen Lindenblatt als Symbol aus schlauchförmigen Fäden bestehender Organismus ohne Blattgrün (Reich Fungi); hat sowohl tierische als auch pflanzliche Eigenschaften

Where the eye mixes Pik and Pilz

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

3 ch
Pik
4 ch
Pilz

Why the eye confuses Pik with Pilz

A purely visual mix-up. Pik ([piːk]) and Pilz ([pɪlt͡s]) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 52009, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Pik is recorded at frequency rank #42,047, classified as anoun, pronounced [piːk]. Pilz is at rank #9,962, tagged as anoun, pronounced [pɪlt͡s].

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 52009, this pair ranks #1,113,448 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Pik vs Pilz

Shared letters: ip. Private to "Pik": k. Private to "Pilz": lz.

"Pik" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "Pilz" · 4 letters · shape CVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Pilziplz · pillz · pilzz · pizl · pliz · ppilz

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Pik" and "Pilz" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([piːk] versus [pɪlt͡s]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "Pik" or "Pilz" show up more?
"Pilz" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #9,962 in our German list, against #42,047 for "Pik". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "Pik" and "Pilz" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Pik" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Pilz" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,113,448 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Pik" and "Pilz" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Pik vs PMS". 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 #1,113,448 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