# FOSS vs fossil

> English confusable word pair

## The two words

### FOSS
*noun · IPA /fɒs/ · frequency rank #33,655*
Initialism of Free and Open Source Software.

### fossil
*noun · IPA /ˈfɒsl̩/ · frequency rank #7,228*
The mineralized remains of an animal or plant.

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