SinusvsSiriusWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#36,626
“Sinus” frequency rank
#36,627
“Sirius” frequency rank
73253
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Sinus Sirius
Definition eine trigonometrische Funktion der im Winter links unterhalb des Orion-Sternbildes sichtbare hellste Fixstern des Himmels

Where the eye mixes Sinus and Sirius

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

5 ch
Sinus
6 ch
Sirius

Look-alike desk: Sinus vs Sirius

A purely visual mix-up. Sinus ([ˈziːnʊs]) and Sirius ([ˈziːʁiʊs]) 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 73253, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Sinus is recorded at frequency rank #36,626, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈziːnʊs]. Sirius is at rank #36,627, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈziːʁiʊs].

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 73253, this pair ranks #365,465 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of Sinus vs Sirius

Shared letters: isu. Private to "Sinus": n. Private to "Sirius": r.

"Sinus" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "Sirius" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Sinusisnus · sinnus · sinsu · sinuss · siuns · snius · ssinus
  • Siriusisrius · siirus · sirisu · siriuss · sirrius · siruis · sriius · ssirius

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Sinus" and "Sirius" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈziːnʊs] versus [ˈziːʁiʊs]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Sinus" or "Sirius"?
"Sinus" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #36,626 in our German list, against #36,627 for "Sirius". 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 "Sinus" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Sirius" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #365,465 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Sinus" and "Sirius" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "sands vs Sinus". 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 #365,465 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