Which to use
“faeces” and “feces” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #41,118
- “faeces” frequency rank
- #21,795
- “feces” frequency rank
- 62913
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | faeces | feces |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Alternative spelling of feces. | Digested waste material (typically solid or semi-solid) discharged from a human or other mammal's stomach to the intestines; excrement. |
Letter map: faeces vs feces
Shared letters muted; letters that set faeces and feces apart highlighted. Shared run: 5. faeces runs 6 letters (CVVCVC) against feces's 5 (CVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Corpus notes: faeces and feces
faeces and feces 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 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 62913, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
faeces is recorded at frequency rank #41,118, classified as anoun. feces is at rank #21,795, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈfiːsiːz/.
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 62913, this pair ranks #85,884 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of faeces vs feces
Shared letters: cefs. Private to "faeces": a. Private to "feces": -.
"faeces" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC · "feces" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "faeces" for "feces" ever safe?
In ordinary English text, does "faeces" or "feces" show up more?
What to do next
Pair "faeces" vs "feces" is on the table, pick a follow-up below.
- Full dictionary entry for "faeces" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "feces" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #85,884 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "faeces" and "feces" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "faeces vs Fawkes". 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 #85,884 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.