Fir or fur?
fir is a noun meaning “A conifer of the genus Abies”; fur is a noun meaning “The hairy coat of various mammal species, especially when fine, soft and thick”. They sound the same (/fɜː/). In written English (wordfreq, 2021 data) fur is about 3.5 times as common as fir.
What is the difference between fir and fur?
| fir | fur | |
|---|---|---|
| Part of speech | noun, adjective | noun, verb, conjunction, preposition |
| Meaning | A conifer of the genus Abies Any pinaceous conifer of related genera, especially a Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga) or a Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) | The hairy coat of various mammal species, especially when fine, soft and thick The hairy skins of animals used as a material for clothing To cover with fur or a fur-like coating |
| Example | none recorded | During the colonial period, Britain used Canada as a major source of furs |
| Forms | firs | furs |
| Pronunciation | /fɜː/ /fəː/ /fɝ/ | /fɜː/ /fəː/ /fɝ/ |
| In writing | 3.0 times per million words | 11 times per million words |
Sources: fir and fur in the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
Every current meaning of fir and fur
fir
- 1
A conifer of the genus Abies
- 2
Initialism of finite impulse response; that has impulse response (or response to any finite length input) of finite duration
- 3
Initialism of flight information region; a specified region of airspace in which a flight information service (FIS) and an alerting service (ALRS) are provided
- 4
Any pinaceous conifer of related genera, especially a Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga) or a Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris)
- 5
Initialism of first information report
- 6
Wood of such trees
- 7
Abbreviation of far infrared or far infrared radiation
fur
- 1
The hairy coat of various mammal species, especially when fine, soft and thick
- 2
To cover with fur or a fur-like coating
- 3
Pronunciation spelling of for
- 4
Pronunciation spelling of for
- 5
A member of a Nilo-Saharan people of western Sudan
- 6
Abbreviation of furlough
- 7
The hairy skins of animals used as a material for clothing
- 8
To become covered with fur or a fur-like coating
Source: the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); obsolete, archaic, dialect and rare senses left out.
Which is more common, fir or fur?
fir appears 3.0 times per million words; fur 11 times per million words.
fir 3.0 times per million wordsfur 11 times per million words
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How many people search fir vs fur?
“fir vs fur” is searched about 110 times a month on Google and 20 on Bing in the United States. Google counts close variants of a query together (“fur vs fir”, “fir or fur”).
Sources: Google Ads keyword data through DataForSEO and Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, the average month from September 2025 to August 2026.