ICANNvsicingWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: ICANN is a name, icing is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“ICANN” is a name and “icing” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#41,683
“ICANN” frequency rank
#15,191
“icing” frequency rank
56874
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ICANN icing
Definition Acronym of Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers. A sweet, often creamy and thick glaze made primarily of sugar, often enriched with ingredients like butter, egg whites, or flavorings, typically used for baked goods.

Where the spellings diverge

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

5 ch
ICANN
5 ch
icing

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: ICANN is /ˈaɪ.kæn/ while icing is /ˈaɪsɪŋ/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (name vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 56874, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ICANN is recorded at frequency rank #41,683, classified as aname, pronounced /ˈaɪ.kæn/. icing is at rank #15,191, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈaɪsɪŋ/.

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 56874, this pair ranks #123,136 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of ICANN vs icing

Shared letters: cin. Private to "ICANN": a. Private to "icing": g.

"ICANN" · 5 letters · shape VCVCC  ·  "icing" · 5 letters · shape VCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • ICANNciann · iacnn · ican · iccann · icnan
  • icingciing · iccing · icign · icingg · icinng · icnig · iicng

Frequency comparison

ICANN#41,683
icing#15,191

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "ICANN" and "icing" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "ICANN" is a name and "icing" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "ICANN" or "icing"?
"icing" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #15,191 in our English list, against #41,683 for "ICANN". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering ICANN vs icing

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a name, it's “ICANN”; for a noun, it's “icing”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “ICANN” 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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list