RunevsRusWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#40,805
“Rune” frequency rank
#30,267
“Rus” frequency rank
71072
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Rune Rus
Definition älteste Schriftzeichen der Germanen Gebiet der ostslawischen Staats- und Gemeinwesen vom 9. bis zum 17. Jahrhundert

Where the eye mixes Rune and Rus

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

4 ch
Rune
3 ch
Rus

Look-alike desk: Rune vs Rus

A purely visual mix-up. Rune ([ˈʁuːnə]) and Rus ([ʁʊs]) 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 71072, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Rune is recorded at frequency rank #40,805, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈʁuːnə]. Rus is at rank #30,267, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ʁʊs].

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 71072, this pair ranks #427,596 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of Rune vs Rus

Shared letters: ru. Private to "Rune": en. Private to "Rus": s.

"Rune" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "Rus" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Runernue · rrune · ruen

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Rune" and "Rus" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈʁuːnə] versus [ʁʊs]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "Rune" vs "Rus" - which ranks higher?
"Rus" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #30,267 in our German list, against #40,805 for "Rune". 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 "Rune" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Rus" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #427,596 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Rune" and "Rus" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "RUB vs Rune". 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 #427,596 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