Which to use
“divide” is a verb and “dividend” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #5,876
- “divide” frequency rank
- #9,321
- “dividend” frequency rank
- 15197
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | divide | dividend |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To split or separate (something) into two or more parts. | A cash payment of money by a company to its shareholders, usually made periodically (e.g., quarterly or annually). |
Where the eye mixes divide and dividend
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between divide and dividend
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: divide is /dɪˈvaɪd/ while dividend is /ˈdɪvɪdɛnd/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “divide” sits inside “dividend”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 15197, 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/. dividend is at rank #9,321, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈdɪvɪdɛnd/.
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 15197, this pair ranks #465,461 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of divide vs dividend
Shared letters: deiv. Private to "divide": -. Private to "dividend": n.
"divide" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV · "dividend" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "divide" and "dividend" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "divide" or "dividend"?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "divide" and "dividend" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "divide" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "dividend" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #465,461 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "divide" and "dividend" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "dividend 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 #465,461 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.