dividedvsdividendWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: divided is a verb, dividend is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“divided” is a verb and “dividend” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#3,160
“divided” frequency rank
#9,321
“dividend” frequency rank
12481
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature divided dividend
Definition simple past and past participle of divide A cash payment of money by a company to its shareholders, usually made periodically (e.g., quarterly or annually).

Letter map: divided vs dividend

Shared letters muted; letters that set divided and dividend apart highlighted. Shared run: 7.

7 ch
divided
8 ch
dividend

Role in the sentence - divided and dividend

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: divided is averb and dividendanoun. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 12481, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

divided is recorded at frequency rank #3,160, classified as averb. 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 12481, this pair ranks #481,323 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of divided vs dividend

Shared letters: deiv. Private to "divided": -. Private to "dividend": n.

"divided" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC  ·  "dividend" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • dividedddivided · diivded · divdied · dividde · dividded · dividedd · diviedd · divvided
  • dividendddividend · diivdend · divdiend · dividdend · dividedn · dividendd · dividennd · dividned

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "divided" for "dividend" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "divided" is a verb and "dividend" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "divided" or "dividend"?
"divided" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,160 in our English list, against #9,321 for "dividend". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Pair "divided" vs "dividend" is on the table, pick a follow-up below.

  • Full dictionary entry for "divided" 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 #481,323 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "divided" 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 #481,323 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