communionvscompanionTell them apart

Which to use

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

#12,946
“communion” frequency rank
#5,772
“companion” frequency rank
18718
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature communion companion
Definition A joining together of minds or spirits; a mental connection. A friend, acquaintance, or partner; someone with whom one spends time or accompanies

Where the eye mixes communion and companion

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence.

9 ch
communion
9 ch
companion

Look-alike desk: communion vs companion

A purely visual mix-up. communion (/kəˈmjuːnjən/) and companion (/kəmˈpæn.jən/) 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 18718, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

communion is recorded at frequency rank #12,946, classified as anoun, pronounced /kəˈmjuːnjən/. companion is at rank #5,772, tagged as anoun, pronounced /kəmˈpæn.jən/.

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 18718, this pair ranks #443,011 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of communion vs companion

Shared letters: cimno. Private to "communion": u. Private to "companion": ap.

"communion" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCVVC  ·  "companion" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • communionccommunion · cmomunion · commnuion · commuinon · communino · communionn · communnion · communoin
  • companionccompanion · cmopanion · comapnion · commpanion · compainon · companino · companionn · compannion

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "communion" and "companion" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/kəˈmjuːnjən/ versus /kəmˈpæn.jən/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "communion" vs "companion" - which ranks higher?
"companion" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,772 in our English list, against #12,946 for "communion". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "communion" and "companion" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "communion" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "companion" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #443,011 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "communion" and "companion" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "commotion vs communion". 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 #443,011 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