Which to use
“Arthur” is a name and “author” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #3,542
- “Arthur” frequency rank
- #1,179
- “author” frequency rank
- 4721
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Arthur | author |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A male given name from the Celtic languages. | The originator or creator of a work, especially of a literary composition; or, one of the creators of a collaborative work. |
Where the eye mixes Arthur and author
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: Arthur vs author
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Arthur is /ˈɑːθə/ while author is /ˈɔː.θə(ɹ)/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (name vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 4721, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Arthur is recorded at frequency rank #3,542, classified as aname, pronounced /ˈɑːθə/. author is at rank #1,179, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈɔː.θə(ɹ)/.
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 4721, this pair ranks #517,912 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of Arthur vs author
Shared letters: ahrtu. Private to "Arthur": -. Private to "author": o.
"Arthur" · 6 letters · shape VCCCVC · "author" · 6 letters · shape VVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "Arthur" for "author" ever safe?
In ordinary English text, does "Arthur" or "author" show up more?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "Arthur" and "author" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "Arthur" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "author" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #517,912 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Arthur" and "author" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "abhor vs author". 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 #517,912 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.