visvsVisumTell them apart

Which to use

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

#23,775
“vis” frequency rank
#16,038
“Visum” frequency rank
39813
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature vis Visum
Definition Schraube ein Sichtvermerk in einem Personaldokument, eine Ein-, Aus- oder Durchreiseerlaubnis

Where the eye mixes vis and Visum

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

3 ch
vis
5 ch
Visum

Look-alike desk: vis vs Visum

A purely visual mix-up. vis ([vis]) and Visum ([ˈviːzʊm]) 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 2 extra letter(s) - “vis” sits inside “Visum”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 39813, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

vis is recorded at frequency rank #23,775, classified as anoun, pronounced [vis]. Visum is at rank #16,038, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈviːzʊm].

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 39813, this pair ranks #1,526,174 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of vis vs Visum

Shared letters: isv. Private to "vis": -. Private to "Visum": mu.

"vis" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "Visum" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Visumivsum · vismu · vissum · visumm · viusm · vsium · vvisum

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "vis" for "Visum" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([vis] versus [ˈviːzʊm]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "vis" vs "Visum" - which ranks higher?
"Visum" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #16,038 in our German list, against #23,775 for "vis". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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 "vis" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Visum" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,526,174 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "vis" and "Visum" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "vis vs voip". 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 #1,526,174 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