abidevsalineWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“abide” and “aline” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#13,084
“abide” frequency rank
#48,052
“aline” frequency rank
61136
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature abide aline
Definition To endure without yielding; to withstand. Alternative form of align.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set abide and aline apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
abide
5 ch
aline

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. abide (/əˈbaɪd/) and aline (/əˈlaɪn/) 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 61136, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

abide is recorded at frequency rank #13,084, classified as averb, pronounced /əˈbaɪd/. aline is at rank #48,052, tagged as averb, pronounced /əˈlaɪn/.

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 61136, this pair ranks #95,993 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of abide vs aline

Shared letters: aei. Private to "abide": bd. Private to "aline": ln.

"abide" · 5 letters · shape VCVCV  ·  "aline" · 5 letters · shape VCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • abideabbide · abdie · abidde · abied · aibde · baide
  • alineailne · alinne · alline · alnie · laine

Frequency comparison

abide#13,084
aline#48,052

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "abide" and "aline" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/əˈbaɪd/ versus /əˈlaɪn/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "abide" or "aline"?
"abide" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #13,084 in our English list, against #48,052 for "aline". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering abide vs aline

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “abide” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list