devisevsDevosWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: devise is a verb, Devos is a name, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“devise” is a verb and “Devos” is a name - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#22,645
“devise” frequency rank
#39,777
“Devos” frequency rank
62422
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature devise Devos
Definition To use one’s intellect to plan or design (something). A surname from Dutch.

Letter map: devise vs Devos

Shared letters muted; letters that set devise and Devos apart highlighted. Shared run: 4.

6 ch
devise
5 ch
Devos

Grammar separator: devise vs Devos

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: devise is averb and Devosaname. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 62422, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

devise is recorded at frequency rank #22,645, classified as averb, pronounced /dɪˈvaɪz/. Devos is at rank #39,777, tagged as aname.

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 62422, this pair ranks #88,609 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of devise vs Devos

Shared letters: desv. Private to "devise": i. Private to "Devos": o.

"devise" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV  ·  "Devos" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • deviseddevise · deivse · devies · devisse · devsie · devvise · dveise · edvise
  • Devosddevos · deovs · devoss · devso · devvos · dveos · edvos

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "devise" and "Devos" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "devise" is a verb and "Devos" a name, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "devise" vs "Devos" - which ranks higher?
"devise" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #22,645 in our English list, against #39,777 for "Devos". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Pair "devise" vs "Devos" is on the table, pick a follow-up below.

  • Full dictionary entry for "devise" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Devos" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #88,609 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "devise" and "Devos" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "depose vs Devos". 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 #88,609 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