Which to use
“divide” and “divided” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #5,876
- “divide” frequency rank
- #3,160
- “divided” frequency rank
- 9036
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | divide | divided |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To split or separate (something) into two or more parts. | simple past and past participle of divide |
Letter map: divide vs divided
Shared letters muted; letters that set divide and divided apart highlighted. Shared run: 6.
Pair insight - divide / divided
divide and divided 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 1 extra letter(s) - “divide” sits inside “divided”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 9036, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
divide is recorded at frequency rank #5,876, classified as averb, pronounced /dɪˈvaɪd/. divided is at rank #3,160, tagged as averb.
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 9036, this pair ranks #499,401 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of divide vs divided
Shared letters: deiv. Private to "divide": -. Private to "divided": -.
"divide" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV · "divided" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "divide" and "divided" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary English text, does "divide" or "divided" show up more?
What to do next
Pair "divide" vs "divided" is on the table, pick a follow-up below.
- Full dictionary entry for "divide" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "divided" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #499,401 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "divide" and "divided" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "divide vs divider". 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 #499,401 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.