cachevsCathWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: cache is a noun, Cath is a name, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“cache” is a noun and “Cath” is a name - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#12,382
“cache” frequency rank
#32,725
“Cath” frequency rank
45107
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature cache Cath
Definition A store, protected and often hidden in some way, of things that may be required in the future, such that they can be retrieved rapidly. A diminutive of the female given name Catherine.

Where the eye mixes cache and Cath

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

5 ch
cache
4 ch
Cath

Visual trap between cache and Cath

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: cache is /kæʃ/ while Cath is /kæθ/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs name), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 45107, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

cache is recorded at frequency rank #12,382, classified as anoun, pronounced /kæʃ/. Cath is at rank #32,725, tagged as aname, pronounced /kæθ/.

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 45107, this pair ranks #224,371 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of cache vs Cath

Shared letters: ach. Private to "cache": e. Private to "Cath": t.

"cache" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "Cath" · 4 letters · shape CVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • cacheacche · cacche · caceh · cachhe · cahce · ccache · ccahe
  • Cathacth · cathh · catth · ccath · ctah

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "cache" and "Cath" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "cache" is a noun and "Cath" a name, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "cache" vs "Cath" - which ranks higher?
"cache" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #12,382 in our English list, against #32,725 for "Cath". 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 "cache" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Cath" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #224,371 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "cache" and "Cath" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Cath vs CGT". 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 #224,371 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list