English homophones

packs/pax

"packs" (#7,827 written frequency) beats "pax" (#19,655) in this 2-word /pæks/ cluster. Size rank #133 of 1,007 English groups.

Data vintage

Frequency splits the cluster

These 2 spellings keep the same /pæks/ reading, but written frequency splits them hard: "packs" leads at #7,827, with "pax" trailing at #19,655.

Spelling pairs in this cluster

  • Shared stem "pa" then splits - "packs" (5 letters) vs "pax" (3).

Orthographic DNA of this cluster

Shared letters across packs, pax: ap. Private letters are the ones only one spelling owns: the eye's fastest tell once sound is out of the picture.

  • packs

    5 letters · 1 vowels · shape CVCCC

    Inventory ackps · private cks

  • pax

    3 letters · 1 vowels · shape CVC

    Inventory apx · private x

Pick the spelling from the meaning

  • Write "packs" when you mean: plural of pack
  • Write "pax" when you mean: A painted, stamped or carved tablet with a representation of Christ or the Virgin Mary, which was kissed by the priest during the Mass ("…

Known mistypes of these spellings

Edit-distance variants recorded against this cluster: useful when a search or OCR feed lands on the wrong form.

  • packsapcks · paccks · packks · packss · pacsk · pakcs

Each spelling

packs

noun · /pæks/ · #7,827 frequency

plural of pack

pax

noun · /pæks/ · #19,655 frequency

A painted, stamped or carved tablet with a representation of Christ or the Virgin Mary, which was kissed by the priest during the Mass ("kiss of peace") and then passed to other officiating clergy and the congregation to be kissed. See also osculatory.

Nearby English homophone groups

What to do next

You've reviewed the 2-spelling cluster (packs, pax). Here's where to go from here.

  • "packs" is the most frequent headword in this 2-spelling cluster (rank #7,827 in English). Full entry
  • Among English homophone groups, a cluster of 2 spellings ranks #133 by size (1,007 groups in this vintage). Corpus statistics
  • Explore a nearby 2-spelling cluster: PAPI · pappy. Nearby cluster
  • Each spelling in "packs, pax" has its own headword page with definition, IPA, and misspelling variants. First entry

PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list