ZehevsZeusWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#43,650
“Zehe” frequency rank
#16,612
“Zeus” frequency rank
60262
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Zehe Zeus
Definition der einem Finger entsprechende Teil des Fußes höchster der olympischen Götter, Himmels- und Wettergott. Gatte der Hera.

Where the eye mixes Zehe and Zeus

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. Zehe (CVCV) and Zeus (CVVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

4 ch
Zehe
4 ch
Zeus

Visual trap between Zehe and Zeus

A purely visual mix-up. Zehe ([ˈt͡seːə]) and Zeus ([t͡sɔɪ̯s]) 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 60262, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Zehe is recorded at frequency rank #43,650, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈt͡seːə]. Zeus is at rank #16,612, tagged as anoun, pronounced [t͡sɔɪ̯s].

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 60262, this pair ranks #793,524 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Zehe vs Zeus

Shared letters: ez. Private to "Zehe": h. Private to "Zeus": su.

"Zehe" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "Zeus" · 4 letters · shape CVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Zehe ← ezhe · zeeh · zehhe · zhee · zzehe
  • Zeus ← ezus · zesu · zeuss · zues · zzeus

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Zehe" for "Zeus" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈt͡seːə] versus [t͡sɔɪ̯s]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Zehe" or "Zeus"?
"Zeus" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #16,612 in our German list, against #43,650 for "Zehe". 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 "Zehe" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Zeus" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #793,524 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Zehe" and "Zeus" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "zechen vs Zehe". 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 #793,524 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