Which to use
“divide” is a verb and “divine” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #5,876
- “divide” frequency rank
- #4,754
- “divine” frequency rank
- 10630
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | divide | divine |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To split or separate (something) into two or more parts. | Of or pertaining to a god. |
Where the eye mixes divide and divine
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. divide and divine follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses divide with divine
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: divide is /dɪˈvaɪd/ while divine is /dɪˈvaɪn/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - d in “divide” becomes n in “divine”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 10630, 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/. divine is at rank #4,754, tagged as anadj, pronounced /dɪˈvaɪn/.
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 10630, this pair ranks #491,331 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of divide vs divine
Shared letters: deiv. Private to "divide": -. Private to "divine": n.
"divide" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV · "divine" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "divide" for "divine" ever safe?
Which is more common, "divide" or "divine"?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "divide" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "divine" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #491,331 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "divide" and "divine" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Dionne vs divine". 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 #491,331 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.