# fanning vs fencing

> English confusable word pair

## The two words

### fanning
*verb · IPA /ˈfænɪŋ/ · frequency rank #25,055*
present participle and gerund of fan

### fencing
*noun · IPA /ˈfɛnsɪŋ/ · frequency rank #13,716*
The art or sport of duelling with swords, especially with the 17th- to 18th-century European dueling swords and the practice weapons descended from them (sport fencing).

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/vs/fanning-vs-fencing