EmilyvsemitWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#5,678
“Emily” frequency rank
#20,914
“emit” frequency rank
26592
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Emily emit
Definition A female given name from Latin. To send out or give off.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set Emily and emit apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
Emily
4 ch
emit

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: Emily is aname and emitaverb. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 26592, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Emily is recorded at frequency rank #5,678, classified as aname. emit is at rank #20,914, tagged as averb, pronounced /iˈmɪt/.

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 26592, this pair ranks #385,543 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Emily vs emit

Shared letters: eim. Private to "Emily": ly. Private to "emit": t.

"Emily" · 5 letters · shape VCVCV  ·  "emit" · 4 letters · shape VCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Emilyeimly · emilly · emilyy · emiyl · emliy · emmily · meily
  • emiteimt · emitt · emmit · emti · meit

Frequency comparison

Emily#5,678
emit#20,914

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Emily" and "emit" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Emily" is a name and "emit" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Emily" or "emit"?
"Emily" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,678 in our English list, against #20,914 for "emit". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering Emily vs emit

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a name, it's “Emily”; for a verb, it's “emit”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “Emily” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list