SeidevsspiceConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#14,408
“Seide” frequency rank
#32,775
“spice” frequency rank
47183
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Seide spice
Definition feine Textilfaser, die aus den Kokons der Seidenraupe gewonnen wird Teile von Pflanzen, die wegen ihres natürlichen Gehaltes an Geschmacks- und Geruchsstoffen als würzende oder geschmacksgebende Zutaten bei der Zubereitung von Speisen und Getränken aller Art eingesetzt werden

Where the eye mixes Seide and spice

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

5 ch
Seide
5 ch
spice

Why the eye confuses Seide with spice

A purely visual mix-up. Seide ([ˈzaɪ̯də]) and spice ([spaɪs]) 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 47183, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Seide is recorded at frequency rank #14,408, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈzaɪ̯də]. spice is at rank #32,775, tagged as anoun, pronounced [spaɪs].

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 47183, this pair ranks #1,293,372 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Seide vs spice

Shared letters: eis. Private to "Seide": d. Private to "spice": cp.

"Seide" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV  ·  "spice" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Seideeside · sedie · seidde · seied · siede · sseide
  • spicepsice · sipce · spcie · spicce · spiec · sppice · sspice

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Seide" and "spice" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈzaɪ̯də] versus [spaɪs]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "Seide" vs "spice" - which ranks higher?
"Seide" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #14,408 in our German list, against #32,775 for "spice". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Seide" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "spice" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,293,372 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Seide" and "spice" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Sire vs spice". 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 #1,293,372 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