Which to use
“APL” and “apple” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #48,593
- “APL” frequency rank
- #1,781
- “apple” frequency rank
- 50374
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | APL | apple |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Initialism of acute promyelocytic leukemia. | A common, firm, round fruit produced by a tree of the genus Malus. |
Letter map: APL vs apple
Shared letters muted; letters that set APL and apple apart highlighted. Shared run: 3.
Corpus notes: APL and apple
APL and apple are indexed as a confusable English pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they differ by 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 50374, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
APL is recorded at frequency rank #48,593, classified as anoun. apple is at rank #1,781, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈæp.əl/.
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 50374, this pair ranks #174,897 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of APL vs apple
Shared letters: alp. Private to "APL": -. Private to "apple": e.
"APL" · 3 letters · shape VCC · "apple" · 5 letters · shape VCCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- apple ← aple · aplpe · appel · applle · paple
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "APL" for "apple" ever safe?
Which is more common, "APL" or "apple"?
Useful next steps
Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "APL" and "apple".
- Full dictionary entry for "APL" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "apple" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #174,897 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "APL" and "apple" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "amb vs APL". 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 #174,897 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.